2017 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
A Socio-Ecological Approach to Restoring River Connectivity and Rewilding Salmon as Keystone Species in the Kushiro River Watershed, Eastern Hokkaido, Japan
| Project/Area Number |
17K00699
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| Research Institution | Sophia University |
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Principal Investigator |
伊藤 毅 上智大学, 国際教養学部, 准教授 (10646863)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
渡邉 剛弘 上智大学, 国際教養学部, 准教授 (50439337)
北島 義和 釧路公立大学, 経済学部, 講師 (70782952)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | Ecology and Society / Salmon Ecology / Social Institutions / Kushiro River |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
A bulk of research activities in the first year focused on understanding salmon ecology, its river environment, and social institutions of salmon reproduction. In particular, we investigated three topics: 1) how salmon propagation activities in Japan have developed since the Meiji period; 2) how they have impacted local communities and river environments, and 3) what social institutions have been established to govern the interaction between natural and human activities.
To understand the ecological challenges of salmon propagation, we organized an international workshop “Restoring Wetlands, Reviving Salmon” in Shibecha Town, Hokkaido on August 4, 2017. Researchers from Norway, Sapporo, and Kushiro presented their work on the importance of maintaining wild salmon in their river systems.
To disseminate our research project and its outcomes, we have been creating a website on the Internet. In March 2018, the prototype website will be publicized in the summer of 2018. We intend to effectively use the website as a means of publicizing research findings and connecting with the wider networks of researchers who are interested in the study of nature-society interactions. The website will be updated as more data and writings will become available.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Overall, our research has progressed as we expected. We were able to visit frequently the research site and to collect necessary data including interviews, government documents, and books. This is largely owing to our team work and an excellent collaborative relationship with local stakeholders in Kushiro.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In the second year, we seek to map the relationship between the relevant stakeholders in the watershed and then requesting information from these groups. To this end, we will conduct semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders in government, salmon industry, research institutes, and civil society. In addition, we will need to collect necessary government documents and statistics, river and wetland data, and books.
In August 2018, we plan to organize a workshop focused on “river works and city revitalization” in Kushiro. We invite presenters from government, industry, and research institutes to talk about their experiences about collaborative river works and city revitalization. This workshop is followed by a session on environmental education for local high school and junior high school students to raise awareness of younger generations about the local ecology.
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| Causes of Carryover |
We did not make full use of the travel budget because our interviews in Kushiro were postponed due to informants' schedule inconveniences. We also could not spend some of the personnel expenditures because we covered some of the work of part-timers.
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Research Products
(5 results)
