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 unique ecosystem that has been maintained for more than 1,000 years by people's activities of open burning and grazing. In recent years, however, the number of people involved in grassland management has been decreasing and livestock operations have been shrinking and aging, making grassland management rapidly more difficult. If it becomes difficult to carry on the tradition of wildfire grazing, which has been carried out by the community, the grasslands will become forested, which will have a wide impact on the landscape, ecology, water environment, and culture.

The loss of grasslands deprives rare plants and insects that depend on burning of their habitats, resulting in a rapid deterioration of biodiversity. In addition, since grassland soils are porous and have high groundwater recharge capacity, the stable supply of groundwater will be impaired if forestation progresses, which will adversely affect the water cycle of the entire basin. Furthermore, the Aso grasslands are known as a cultural landscape that combines ritualistic beliefs and agriculture, and their loss would shake the foundation of the local culture.

In response to this crisis, efforts to conduct wildland firefighting in cooperation with local governments, residents, NPOs, and corporate volunteers are spreading, and a grassland conservation model is being formed in conjunction with grazing restoration and eco-tourism. The crisis of the Aso grasslands is an issue that calls into question the sustainability of the cultural nature created and protected by people, and a new form of collaboration is required to connect the culture of fire to the next generation.