Residents' Preference and Willingness to Pay for Conservation of Homestead Woodlands-a case of coastal villages in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

摘要

Fukugi(Garcinia subelliptica Merr.) tree homestead woodland has prevailed widely along the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost part of Japan. The homestead woodland has played a key role in protecting the settlements from strong winds, as well as providing timber and green manure and etc. in the past. However, with the rapid urbanization and economic and societal change, homestead woodlands greatly vanish in Japan. The ecological multi functions of forests have been stressed in recent researches. The management and conservation of homestead woodland is little studied, although they have been closely relevant to habitants' wellbeing. The primary purpose of this study is to reveal dwellers' perception of homestead woodlands. The secondary purpose is to explore dwellers' willingness to conserve homestead woodlands by using the contingent valuation method (CVM). Survey was conducted in three hamlets with the best preserved Fukugi homestead woodlands in Okinawa Prefecture. Overwhelming majority of the respondents, accounting for around 91%, preferred homestead woodlands to being conserved. Residents have highly valued the amelioration of micro-climate by homestead woodlands, such as windbreak and cooling the air in summer. In contrast, the contribution to biodiversity was slightly assessed, in particularly, in two small isolated islands. It was revealed that residents at small isolated have highly valued standing Fukugi trees concerning the function of preventing from typhoons. It was found that Fukugi homestead woodlands were considered as private goods by the dwellers as well as local authority. About half of the respondents perceived that the house owners and/or local authority such as hamlet community should be responsible for the conservation. The interesting finding in this study revealed that the residents' attitude toward homestead woodland was significant factor influencing their willingness to pay for woods preservation. Around 25% of the total respondents rejected the payment. Estimated mean and median WTP values were JPY 1,451/household and JPY 1,000/household, respectively. Thus, environmental education and awareness arising will contribute to better conservation of their homestead woodlands. It is urgent to evaluate the non-use value of homestead woodlands as environmental goods and urge local policy makers to include Fukugi homestead woodlands in landscape planning and conservation.