Silent Diversity: Lives Lost in the Shadow of Economic Growth -2002, Japan

Silent Diversity: Lives Lost in the Shadow of Economic Growth -2002, Japan

Japan, 2002. More than ten years had passed since the bursting of the bubble economy, and the country as a whole was searching for a new start between economic stagnation and structural reform. The Koizumi administration's "structural reforms without sanctuary" were attempting to spread economic rationality and market principles throughout society, but in the shadow of these reforms, the natural environment was quietly but surely losing its diversity.

During the period of rapid economic growth from the postwar period to the 1980s, Japan developed its infrastructure at breakneck speed, expanding industrial zones and mechanizing agriculture. As a result, cities expanded and suburbs and mountainous areas were swallowed by the wave of development. Many wetlands and satoyama have been converted into housing estates, rivers have been embanked, and forests have been divided into forest roads and golf courses.

Because these changes were taking place at a speed that was difficult to see, society as a whole was slow to recognize the seriousness of these changes. For example, fireflies, beetles, and frogs that were once close to children have disappeared without notice. Japan is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, yet it has been unaware of the process of loss of its richness.

In 2002, the international frameworks of the Convention on Biological Diversity (adopted in 1992) and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Conservation were beginning to function, and Japan was a signatory to them, but domestic policies had not kept pace. Especially during this period, when economic revitalization was regarded as the most important issue, nature conservation was often put on the back burner because "cost-effectiveness was invisible.

In the same year, the "Law for the Promotion of Nature Restoration" was enacted and the "Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-Oriented Society" also came into effect, but even though systems were in place, they were not very effective, and the field was plagued by budget shortages and lack of human resources. In forest management as well, the decline of the satoyama culture of the past led to an increase in neglected forests, which in turn led to the invasion of non-native species and the degradation of the forests.

Against this backdrop, the "loss of biodiversity" was not simply a matter of nature conservation, but a mirror reflecting the distortion of the value system of human society itself. Values that prioritize efficiency, growth, and profit do not understand the slow and complex interdependence of nature.

When nature is silenced, it is not simply a change in landscape. Invisible ecological functions collapse, and the sustainability of society itself begins to falter. This was the quiet "environmental emergency" in Japan in 2002.