OECD's Environmental Performance Reviews: Japan

  • Evaluation
    • In recent years, protection of biodiversity has been assigned a higher priority in Japan: it is one of the three pillars of the 2007 Strategy for a Sustainable Society, and Japan will host the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in October 2010.
    • In March 2010, Japan released its 4th National Biodiversity Strategy. However, protection of biodiversity within and outside protected areas has not been sufficient to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss, the target agreed by the CBD Conference of the Parties in 2002.
    • Japan has a relatively high share of endemic species. A high portion, by OECD standards, face extinction; nearly a quarter of mammal species and more than a third of freshwater fish species. Conservation programmes are being implemented for 82 endangered species. The situation has deteriorated since the 2002 OECD Environmental Performance Review, underlining the need for strengthened protection measures.
    • About 24% of Japan's territory is designated as protected in various forms, such as natural parks. However, only 3.3% of Japan's territory has nature conservation as its primary function (IUCN categories I and II), which is low by OECD standards.
    • The variety of protection regimes results in heterogeneous management practices, for which there is a need to further streamline nature conservation laws. Financing for nature conservation remains at a low level and has not noticeably improved since the last OECD review.
    • The area of farmland has decreased continuously over the last 20 years, due to residential, commercial and infrastructure development. Agricultural production is heavily supported; 85% of assistance to farmers is in the form of market price support which is more environmentally damaging than some other forms of support.
    • he Japanese government is actively promoting the "Satoyama Initiative". However, there are questions about the extent and changes in the area of satoyama landscapes. Moreover, many satoyama areas have not proven to be economically viable under current policies. Many have been abandoned, and the increasing age of local communities has reinforced this trend.
  • Recommendations
    It is recommended to:
    • consolidate the policy framework for biodiversity protection, in particular streamline nature protection legislation, strengthen inter-ministerial co-operation and better link biodiversity monitoring with policy-making;
    • expand the territory allocated to nature protection, in particular in national forests and marine areas, and provide additional finance for this purpose;
    • develop a strategy for biodiversity corridors, particularly in forests and along rivers, taking account of possible impacts of climate change;
    • redesign agricultural support measures so as to reduce the negative impacts on, and to provide incentives to protect, biodiversity;
    • establish payments for ecological services as a means to protect biodiversity, including in satoyama areas.