State of the Art Review on Land-Use Policy: Changes in Forests, Agricultural Lands and Renewable Energy of Japan

Policies in Japan are shifting focus on sustainable land-use management-related policies through consensus building, given the complex options for the community and the landowners. For instance, conversion of agricultural lands to renewable energy sites, which is an example of “land-use conversion for a newly found objective”, is rapidly progressing, and actions on “managing of croplands in a minimal (low labor demand) way” has been embodied in certain policies. Currently, there are political and scientific efforts to balance environmental conservation with production activities in agriculture and forestry sectors based on science and evidence. With policies catching up, it is possible to confirm what has been moved from the planning to the implementation stage of the proposed consensus-building system by summarizing and discussing the current progress of the project. More specifically, we highlighted the trends in reusing agricultural lands under the current national-level policies and management options for croplands, such as the “less maintenance way.” We also discussed and presented the preliminary results, insights, and prospects from the ongoing project, which then led to the discussion of future considerations in sustainable land-use management in Japan.筆者らが展開するJST－RISTEXプロジェクト（社会実験）がけん引する日本の農地に関する法改正および政策転換を踏まえ、ダウンサイジングにおける考察を述べたものである。今後、食料安全保障も踏まえつつ、農林地を管理しやすいスキーム作りをより一層進展させるにあたっての検討である。