{"id":3997,"date":"2026-11-09T14:43:49","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T05:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/?post_type=research&#038;p=3997"},"modified":"2026-11-09T14:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T05:46:32","slug":"research-3997","status":"publish","type":"research","link":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/research\/research-3997\/","title":{"rendered":"Balancing Rare Species Conservation and Agriculture in a World Natural Heritage Site (Amami-Oshima Island)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Amami-Oshima Island (Kagoshima Prefecture), a World Natural Heritage site, the population of the Amami rabbit, a Special Natural Monument of Japan, has recovered as the eradication of invasive mongooses has progressed. At the same time, damage to the bark and seedlings of tankan citrus, one of the island\u2019s main crops, has been spreading. Because the rabbit is protected, population control by capture is difficult, and \u201cseparating habitats\u201d with fences and other barriers is the main countermeasure. Based on interviews with farmers, municipalities, Kagoshima Prefecture and the Ministry of the Environment\u2019s Amami Wildlife Conservation Center, we examine the actual damage and countermeasures, how support programs work, and the challenges farmers face, and consider how rare species conservation and local agriculture can coexist. This research is supported by the ESPEC Foundation for Global Environment Research and Technology (FY2026) and received the ESPEC Prize for the Encouragement of Environmental Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/amami_tankan_trunk_4x3.jpg\" alt=\"A tankan citrus trunk gnawed by Amami rabbits (April 2026)\" class=\"wp-image-3943\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/amami_tankan_trunk_4x3.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/amami_tankan_trunk_4x3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/amami_tankan_trunk_4x3-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/amami_tankan_trunk_4x3-670x503.jpg 670w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A tankan citrus trunk gnawed by Amami rabbits (April 2026)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/amami_orchard_interview.jpg\" alt=\"Interview in an orchard (October 2026)\" class=\"wp-image-4010\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/amami_orchard_interview.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/amami_orchard_interview-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/amami_orchard_interview-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/agri-tropic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/amami_orchard_interview-670x503.jpg 670w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Interview in an orchard (October 2026)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more details, please see \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/hyakulab.com\/en\/research\/ongoing_research_funded\/#amami\">Research Funded by External Grants<\/a>\u201d on the website of the Laboratory of Natural Resource Management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Amami-Oshima Island (Kagoshima Prefecture), a World Na\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3943,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"researcher-jp":[],"researcher-en":[158],"class_list":["post-3997","research","type-research","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","researcher-en-hyakumura-k"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research\/3997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/research"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research\/3997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4028,"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research\/3997\/revisions\/4028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"researcher-jp","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/researcher-jp?post=3997"},{"taxonomy":"researcher-en","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agr.kyushu-u.ac.jp\/tropic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/researcher-en?post=3997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}