In recent years, bear sightings have become a hot topic. In particular, in Akita Prefecture, encounters between humans and Asiatic bears are occurring on an unprecedented scale. Many experts say that the reason bear sightings have become so noticeable is the “decline of Satoyama.” Satoyama played a role in separating the world of bears from that of humans. Bears are very cautious animals. Even if they happened to come to Satoyama, where human activity was active, they would usually return to the mountains immediately. However, the situation has changed. Satoyama, which has been devastated by population decline and depopulation, is no longer a place that belongs only to humans. Satoyama has become a place where bears do not feel any danger from humans and have no trouble finding food. Bears no longer have a reason to return from Satoyama to the depths of the mountains. Satoyama has now become a bear’s territory, and an ironic phenomenon has emerged in which the humans who visit occasionally have become outsiders.
In Iwaki city, Fukushima prefecture, pumpkin seeds are planted in the mountains to protect crops from damage caused by wild boars. It was a common practice for local people to grow pumpkins in the mountains as a means of self-defense. They created a buffer zone in the form of pumpkin fields between the agricultural villages where humans are productive and the forests where animals live. American Indians did something similar to the Iwaki case. They planted Juneberries, a type of raspberry, around their blueberry fields. They planted Juneberries around the fields to protect the blueberries. Juneberries bear fruit early and are tall. The birds that fly in are satisfied once they have their fill. The birds that arrive eat the Juneberries, which ripen first. The system was set up so that humans could harvest the blueberries while the birds ate the ripened Juneberries.
There are artificial forests and natural forests. Artificial forests are primarily used to produce timber. These artificial forests will be created by consolidating forests suitable for timber production, building forest roads, and using large machinery to increase production. In Japan, there are lands in artificial forests that are not suitable for production. Conversely, there are also natural forests that are highly productive. Artificial forests are highly productive forests that human activity is active. On the other hand, natural forests are forests that human activity is low and that bears can live comfortably. Broadleaf trees can be planted in natural forests, making them forests that many acorns, a favorite food of bears, fall. It is also possible to create artificial forests with high human activity surrounding natural forests. It would be great if we could achieve symbiosis between bears and humans with such ingenuity.
Notes:
Satoyama is defined as “a land located between nature and the city, consisting of settlements, reservoirs, etc.”
