What are designated important Satochi and Satoyama?
Satochi and Satoyama are located between pristine nature and urban cities and are areas made up of villages, the secondary forests around those villages, and agricultural land, rivers, ponds, grasslands, and other parts.
The environment is formed and maintained through the various activities of humans in conjunction with the agriculture and forestry industries.
Satochi and Satoyama are important as habitats for certain types of wildlife, for providing natural resources such as foods and wood, for providing beautiful landscapes, and to pass down the local culture.
The Tozaka area, Aogaki-cho, Tamba City was selected by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment as a designated important Satochi/Satoyama in recognition of the satoyama preservation activities being actively carried out in the region.
- Selection criteria for important satochi/satoyama
Satochi and Satoyama are natural areas developed through various human activities throughout their long history.
They are familiar to people for their rice paddies, streams, plains, and mountains, and are said to cover about 40% of the land in Japan.
The Ministry of the Environment has positioned rich Satochi/Satoyama as one type of natural area that should be preserved for future generations. A total of 500 places around Japan were selected as ‘important Satochi/Satoyama for the conservation of biodiversity’ (shortened to ‘important Satochi/Satoyama’).
The biodiversity status of the Satochi/Satoyama is checked against three selection criteria and places that meet two or more criteria are selected as important satochi/satoyama (a rich environment in which humans and other living things coexist).
Satochi and Satoyama that have diverse and excellent secondary natural environments
- Natural environments such as agricultural land and secondary forests that have been used and managed sustainably by people since long ago are called secondary natural environments and they are formed through interaction with people.
By maintaining rice fields that are kind to wildlife and forests that are trimmed and taken care of, the unique biodiversity of the Satochi and Satoyama is protected. 
Habitation and growth of unique and diverse wildlife
- The fact that the wildlife that prefers the Satochi and Satoyama environment, that the wildlife that comes and goes through the environment that is a fusion of satoyama, agricultural land, rivers, and ponds, and that the other wildlife living in the Satochi and Satoyama continue living there actively can be considered proof that a good natural environment is being maintained.
Satochi and Satoyama that help form ecosystem networks
- By maintaining the links and coherence among the various natural environments, including the rich Satochi and Satoyama, an environment in which both humans and other living things can exist comfortably is created.
