Impact of Torrential Rain Disaster on Forest Land Development: A Case Study of Mega Solar Projects in Kumamoto Prefecture

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  • Okamoto Naoyuki
    Program of Forest and Forest Products Sciences, Course of Earth Forest Science, Department of Bioresource and Bioenvironment, School of Agriculture, Kyushu University
  • Fujiwara Takahiro
    Laboratory of Forest Policy, Division of Forest Environmental Sciences, Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University
  • Sato Noriko
    Laboratory of Forest Policy, Division of Forest Environmental Sciences, Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University

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  • 豪雨災害が林地開発に与えた影響 : 熊本県のメガソーラー事業を事例に

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Since the introduction of the FIT system, the number of forest land development projects for the purpose of installing renewable energy facilities has been on the increase, and at the same time, landslides caused by torrential rains have been observed in many areas in recent years. Considering this, the Forestry Agency has been reviewing its standards for permitting forest land development. However, there have been no studies that capture the actual conditions of forest land development and the people involved after a heavy rain disaster. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to clarify the impact of the heavy rain disaster on those involved in forest land development, using Kumamoto Prefecture as a case study. In Kumamoto Prefecture, the implementation guidelines for the forest land development permit system were revised in March 2022 in response to the disasters caused by the July 2020 torrential rains and the soil runoff from a mega solar power plant construction site caused by the August 2021 heavy rains. To investigate different parties involved, interviews were conducted with the Forest Conservation Section of the Kumamoto Prefectural Government, the Energy Policy Section, and the Forest Conservation Section of the Kuma Regional Promotion Bureau, the mega-solar developer, and residents living near the development site. By analyzing the statements of Kumamoto Prefecture, developers, and residents using Ueno’s method of qualitative analysis, we examined the response to forest land development and the impact of the torrential rain disaster. The results showed that all three parties shared a common desire for more dialogue and information sharing regarding forest land development after the torrential rain disaster.

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