2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

The Underlying Conditions of Depopulation and Abandoned Artificial Groves: Social Capital Approach using Social Network Analysis

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23780228
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Agro-economics
Research Institution	Tottori University
Principal Investigator	KATANO Yohei 鳥取大学, 農学部, 助教 (00407347)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2012
Keywords	環境政策 / 法社会学 / 社会科学
Research Abstract	The number of abandoned small-scale artificial forests has been increasing in recent years in Japan, especially in the depopulated regions. Despite various government policies to deal with these privately-owned forests, owners of small-scale artificial forests often fail to carry out adequate management, particularly, thinning. Insufficient maintenance of artificial forests is likely to increase the risk of mudslides and other natural disasters. Using a social network approach, this study explored how social factors influence the artificial forests management. In particular, this study showed the different types of social networks between the resident and non-resident of depopulated regions, highlighting the importance of social relationships on people's pro-environmental behavior.

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