Development and introduction of resident-centered survey methods for animal damage problems, and model development of residents' initiatives

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K15935
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 41030:Rural environmental engineering and planning-related
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Otani Yosuke 大阪大学, COデザインセンター, 准教授 (70750909)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 鳥獣害対策 / ニホンザル / 深層学習 / 顔認識 / 野生動物管理

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study was conducted based on the assumption that residents' proactive participation in surveys using a simple survey method would have a positive effect on their awareness of self- and mutual-help in animal damage control. A face recognition system that enables non-specialists to conduct individual identification surveys was developed for Japanese macaques, and a system that enables registration and identification of individuals from a very small number of training images was developed for a limited number of individuals. In addition, we proposed countermeasure methods to the affected areas, and at the same time, monitored the awareness of countermeasures through questionnaires and interview surveys. As a result, we obtained data suggesting that participation in ecological surveys and the participation of outsiders may increase the residents' awareness of self- and mutual-help.

Free Research Field

農村計画

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年ニホンザル等の野生動物による農作物被害が深刻化している。有効な対策には生態学的情報に基づいた計画立案および住民の主体的な関わりが必要となる。しかし現状では、地域において継続調査を行う専門家の不足、住民の意欲に関する知見の不足が課題となっている。本研究の成果により、非専門家であっても生態学的調査への参画が可能であること、それにより対策意欲に好適な影響がある可能性が示された。このことは獣害に関する専門家の関わり方をリデザインするための重要な示唆となると考えられる。