The term satoyama gained currency in Japan in postwar decades as a term that describes a sphere of ''encultured'' nature that has traditionally existed on the periphery of rural settlements, but which is increasingly threatened by industrialisation, urban development, rural depopulation and changing lifestyles. Satoyama is appealing as a concept because it represents a sphere in which nature and culture intersect, and is reminiscent of a more idyllic rural lifestyle of the past, when the Japanese ''lived in harmony with nature''. This article examines the role of this term in the nature conservation discourse in Japan, and in particular its appropriation by the Ministry of the Environment and the Japanese host organisations for the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was held in Japan in 2010. The article will explore the way the concept of satoyama has been ''showcased'' as a model of sustainable resource management based on traditional methods of agriculture. The satoyama concept is used to demonstrate that Japan not only possesses the knowledge to live in harmony with nature, but also offers a model of sustainable resource management that the rest of the world can learn from.

This paper examines how attitudes towards rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand have evolved since the country's settlement by Europeans, two centuries ago. For most of our postcolonial history, rivers have been viewed as something to be controlled and managed—even “improved.” But today, rivers are increasingly being recognized as embodying a broad range of values from the ecological to the spiritual—not simply as a “channel of water” that can be exploited for human ends. Although much of this evolving understanding stems from the advance in scientific knowledge, much too has its roots in our collective past.

Like many other developed or developing nations, Japan has found itself faced with the challenge of finding the balance between the economic and social needs of its nation on the one hand and the protection of its natural environment on the other, something that has been particularly challenging in the post-war decades of high economic growth rates. In this process, the national nature conservation movement has played an important role in counter-balancing the power of the pro-development forces in Japan. However, owing to a number of factors, both social and political, its influence has remained limited. This paper explores those factors, and outlines recent developments which may lead to both a greater emphasis on the greater participation of non-governmental organisations in the political process, and a greater emphasis on the protection of the natural environment.

This article traces the history of freshwater management in New Zealand from the earliest laws to protect newly introduced trout and salmon from pollution in the 1860s through to what an increasing number of New Zealanders today consider as a ‘freshwater crisis’ – a consequence of the failure of government to respond adequately to the unprecedented speed and scale of land use intensification and its impacts over the last few decades. Two themes are highlighted by this history: the tension between the protection and use of our water (and land) resources; and the tendency of government to intervene only when serious environmental damage has become evident.

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