When the Millennium Lamp of Aso Grassland Flickers: A Future Map of Burning and Ecology - 2025 Perspectives

When the Millennium Lamp of Aso Grassland Flickers: A Future Map of Burning and Ecology - 2025 Perspectives

The grasslands of Aso are a rare ecological stage created by human intervention on top of the long-standing volcanic terrain. The practice of burning grass for grazing is not mere work, but a way of life and culture that has linked people to the land for millennia. In recent years, however, this long tradition has been interrupted by an aging population and the downsizing of livestock farming operations. The phenomenon of grasslands turning into forests is accelerating as people are retreating, and it is casting a deep shadow over the future of Aso.

The first impact of the loss of grasslands is on biodiversity. The grasslands of Aso are home to many species that can only live in an environment that involves fire, such as the fire-breathing species of Aso's pine, pine, thorny violets, and certain butterflies. As forestation progresses, these species will rapidly lose their habitat and the ecological chain will be disrupted. Studies have also shown that the porous structure of Aso grassland soil plays a major role in recharging spring water and groundwater. The disappearance of grasslands will lead to fluctuations in groundwater levels and increased drought risk, which will affect the entire Kyushu watershed.

Loss of landscape is also a decline in culture. The Aso area is a unique cultural landscape where agriculture, grazing rituals, and religious beliefs are blended together, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs appreciates its value. The fire-waving rituals and burning of fields were a way of life that coexisted with nature, and were also rituals to appease disasters and herald the seasons. If this layer of time disappears, the spiritual landscape will also fade away.

In the midst of this crisis, cooperative wildland burning, in which local government, local residents, NPOs, and corporate volunteers work together, is spreading, and some 2,000 people are participating in it. Pasture restoration and eco-tourism are also progressing, and wisdom is being gathered to hand over the grasslands to the future. The crisis of the Aso grasslands means that the collaboration between people and nature is in jeopardy, and the question is whether we can pass the light to the next generation.