人ひとと自然しぜんが一緒いっしょに生いきる：森林しんりんを守まもる考かんがえ方かたの変化へんか

Interest in the protection of forests and nature is increasing around the world.

The original main perspective was protecting nature for the sake of humans.

In other words, it is the idea that it is important to preserve forests for human life and the future.

However, there are many problems with this view.

First, from the perspective of protecting forests for humans, it can also be considered correct to say developing for humans.

For the same reason of for the sake of humanity, the opinions of those who advocate for nature conservation and those who promote development are in conflict, and it cannot be said that either side is absolutely right.

Next, even if we say for the sake of humans, what is beneficial for people differs from person to person.

For example, people who live in the countryside and those who live in the city have different ways of thinking about nature.

Even in the same mountain village, opinions differ between those engaged in forestry and those who are not.

Since the relationship between humans and forests is extremely diverse, there is no single answer to the question of how protecting them benefits humans.

Furthermore, if we continue to focus on the perspective of for the sake of humans, there may be people who think, There is no need to protect nature that is not useful to humans.

For these reasons, human-centered conservation has faced much criticism and has gradually lost its influence.

After that, the perspective of focusing on nature was born.

According to this perspective, nature itself has the right to exist, regardless of whether it is beneficial to humans or not.

However, this theory also has its limitations.

It is suitable for places that remain in their natural state, like virgin forests with little human intervention, but in countries like Japan, where humans and nature have coexisted for a long time, this theory alone is insufficient to explain things.

For example, in old rural villages, people created forests called satoyama to protect their way of life.

It is nature that has been influenced by humans, a form in which humans and nature coexist together.

In this way, the relationship between nature and humans is not one-sided, but is sustained by mutually supporting each other.