Biodiversity is one of the important aspects of Agricultural Heritage Systems and some consumers might be willing to pay a higher price for agricultural commodities that are produced in a way that conserves biodiversity. If so, whether can market-oriented policies to promote adding the value of biodiversity to agricultural products be used to conserve biodiversity? Our study focuses on consumer reactions to "life brand" product, which is labeled as "Stork-raising rice" in Toyooka City in Japan, produced environmentally-friendly agricultural practices for the revival of extinct stork. Using data of choice experiment and Latent Segment model, we analyzed whether these agricultural products can achieve higher market prices. The results showed that consumer, who had knowledge that stork populations had been revived because of changes in agricultural practice, are willing to buy expensive rice that improve biodiversity conservation for stork. However, consumers who bought this rice because of a preference for reduced-pesticide or organic food, without knowledge of revived stork history, were not willing to do so. The majority of agricultural product consumers in Japan are this type of consumer. Thus, the promotion of biodiversity conservation by only "life brand" agricultural products is not enough. Therefore, government support and public activities are indispensable for biodiversity conservation.

In South Korea village woods are composed of an isolated tree or a number of trees, located near rural villages and which have an apparent fengshui shape. Village woods also function as wildlife habitat and promote agricultural biodiversity. Here village woods were classified in to four types (natural forest, semi-natural forest, halfnatural forest and artificial forest) and 23 main tree species(dominant or sub-dominant species) identified. Pinus densiflora is dominant at 50 sites, and Zelkova serrata is dominant at 45 sites. Across village woods, emerged plants comprise 125 families, 519 genus and 1081 species. In spite of the extremely small area of village wood, 100 000 km² or 0.00278% Korea's territory, this ecosystem has an important biodiversity and habitat conservation function. Village woods are not only a base for conserving biodiversity, but also deliver ecosystem services in South Korea.

As one kind of land use practice, traditional agroforestry systems already have a long history of hundreds of years in practice and still play a significant role in the world today, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. In this era of globalization and food in security, more and more governments and non-governmental organizations are paying attention to traditional agroforestry systems because of their economic, ecological and socio-culture benefits. These benefits are also in accord with the characteristics of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). So far, four typical traditional agroforestry systems from five countries have been designated as GIAHS. These traditional agroforestry systems have rich agricultural and associated biodiversity, multiple ecosystem services and precious socio-culture values at a regional and global level. Although traditional agroforestry systems are confronted with many threats and challenges, such as population growth, migration, market impact, climate change and so on, as long as governments and non-governmental organizations, local communities and smallholders can cooperate with each other, traditional agroforestry systems will be effectively protected and will remain in the future a sustainable global land use practice.

Qingyuan County, Zhejiang, China is recognized as a source of mushrooms around the world and as Mushroom City in China. Because of a favorable ecological environment and abundant forest resources, mushroom farmers in Qingyuan have engaged in mushroom production for 800 years and continued to form unique mushroom production systems where people and nature live in a harmonious way, and a rich and colorful mushroom culture. The Qingyuan Mushroom Culture System was named the Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage systems of China in 2014. Based on analysis of the importance of agricultural heritage and the necessity and urgency of protection, here we examine the agricultural heritage of the Qingyuan mushroom culture system as a research case study and comprehensively describe its heritage values, including supply materials and production, ecosystem services, cultural inheritance and multi-function agricultural development. These results provide reference values for agricultural heritage protection and inheritance of edible fungi in China, agricultural sustainable development and extension of agricultural function.

Xinghua Duotian Agrosystem is a raised field agriculture system with typical water-land utilization. It was identified as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) site by FAO in April 2014. Based on a literature review and field investigations, we analyzed the history and development, structure and characteristics, functions and values of the Xinghua Duotian Agrosystem in this research. The system has a long history, rich biodiversity, important ecosystem services, traditional adapted agricultural technologies and a folk culture. Altogether, these features form an attractive landscape created by its special water-land utilization. It also has great importance for the livelihood maintenance of the local people. However, the inheritance and conservation effort of Xinghua Duotian Agrosystem is facing great threats from modern agriculture, urbanization and labor loss. This paper will provide insight into the Xinghua Duotian Agrosystem, and provide scientific support for the conservation and development of this special system. It will also provide a good example for similar areas in China and worldwide.

In recent years, with climate change, many agricultural systems are facing severe environmental stress, which are seriously threatening the food security and sustainable development of agricultural system. Although mainstream agro-system can effectively reduce the adverse agro-production effect rapidly by using modern technology, but many of them bring serious ecological crisis at the same time. For the sustainable development of agro-systems, the stress mitigation options must give full consideration to ecological protection. The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites, relying on its unique land use, water conservancy facilities, traditional crops, etc., form unique production system creating a better match with local natural conditions. Based on disaster mitigation system theory and practice, this paper analyzes environmental stress counter-measures of several GIAHS sites in China. The water requirement of millet, a drought-tolerant crop in Aohan Dryland Farming System (recognized as a GIAHS pilot site in 2012), has a better match with local water conditions. By reducing vulnerability of crops, agriculture survived healthily in semi-arid regions. Honghe Hani Rice Terraces System (recognized as a GIAHS pilot site in 2010), relying on the unique land and water use patterns, has successfully reshape disaster inducing environment, and effectively reduce the risk/effects of droughts. Besides, due to the high price, rich crop diversity and variety of income channel, the Agricultural Heritage sites can ensure the economic income and agro-system health when facing environmental stress. Stress counter-measures of traditional agricultural systems make full use of the regulation and spontaneity ability of the natural system, which is an important way to achieve sustainable development of ecological agriculture.

An interest in the biodiversity and historical and cultural aspects of farming and fishing communities, in addition to the basic role of food production, is growing. Development of an Agricultural Heritage System and Korea Important Agricultural Heritage System has been a key objective of South Korea's central government. Given that restoration and technology transfer becomes impossible once heritage is damaged, a detailed study of management regarding conservation is required alongside the development of the Agricultural Heritage System. Here, I was able to analyze several applications submitted by local governments to the Korea Important Agricultural Heritage System. The main objective was to identify the uniqueness of each application with the nature of heritage, threats to this heritage, and current preservation efforts. I found that the most common threat is the decreasing population status for heritage maintenance due to changes in agricultural environments. In response, each site plans to boost local tourism activities as a solution but current tourism oriented management plans may result in further damage to heritage. In light of my analysis I discuss three pillars for future planning: the improvement of heritage understanding and awareness; sufficient space to maintain heritage features; and new industrialization plans that maintain production activities. These recommendations will ensure heritage protection, conservation of the natural environment, and invigoration of farming and fishing communities through biodiversity.

While the true value of environmental goods may be captured in a one-off payment, it may be easier to add a smaller amount to a private good by means of donation and collect the total environmental value over time. For that, however we need to ensure the smaller amount of a heritage conservation donation added to a private good is adequate so that we can find retailers to participate in such fund-raising activities. We test the contingent valuation method's criterion validity by comparing their stated purchasing behavior with their actual behavior. The price increase from the addition of the donation did not affect total sales of the commodity. Adding a donation to specialized private goods may be an effective way to collect landscape and agricultural heritage conservation donations. Furthermore, our findings suggest that funds can be collected without affecting commodity sales. This approach is effective in other environmental protection activities.

Hani rice terraces system is one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) pilot sites selected by FAO. Soil nutrients are an important symbol of soil fertility, and play an important role in the sustainable utilization of land. Based on geo-statistics and GIS, the spatial variation of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium in the soil in Yisa (a town in Honghe County, Yunnan Province) was studied. The results show that the spatial variability of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen and available potassium exhibited medium spatial variability, and the coefficients of variation are 12.54%, 40.14%, 40.00%, 34.89%, and 40.00% respectively. Available phosphorus exhibited strong spatial variability, and the coefficient of variation is 102.13%. The spatial variation of pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen and available potassium fit the index mode, however, the spatial variation of available phosphorus fits the spherical model. Total nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium were greatly affected by soil structural factors, while pH, organic matter and alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen were affected by both structural and random factors. The spatial distribution of soil nutrients in Yisa was intuitively characterized by Kriging interpolation. It is very important to understand the spatial distribution of soil nutrients, which will provide the guidance for adjusting agricultural management measures such as fertilization.

Anxi is the largest producing area of Tie Guanyin tea in China. "The cultural system of Tie Guanyin tea in Anxi" was selected as "Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems" (China-NIAHS) in 2014. Tea gardens in this region are organic, ecological or non-ecological. After sampling the soil in these three kinds of tea gardens, we compared soil properties and nutrient content at different soil depths using physical and chemical analyses. Our aim was to provide a scientific basis for the management of tea plantations. We measured and analyzed soil in two organic, three ecological and one non-ecological tea gardens at depths of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm in Anxi County. According to Duncan multiple comparisons and t tests, soil nutrients differed between organic and ecological or non-ecological tea gardens at 0-10 cm. Organic matter and total nitrogen differed between organic and nonecological tea garden soils at 10-20 cm. In organic tea gardens, soil bulk density, porosity, relative water content, soil organic matter, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were advantageous for tea tree growth. In ecological tea gardens, the indicators were appropriate and relatively advantageous for tea tree growth at a soil depth of 0-10 cm. For non-ecological tea garden, the nutrients were at a compact level and negatively affect tea growth. These results show that soil properties and nutrient content in organic and ecological tea gardens are superior to non-ecological tea garden. The development of organic tea gardens is the most suitable strategy for the growth of tea trees.

The "Noto's Satoyama and Satoumi " in Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan is a system of Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS) mosaics interconnected with highly productive coastal areas that have been formed and maintained through long-term human influence, which supports not only its diverse and traditional agriculture, forestry and fisheries, but also sustains local livelihoods and conserves its flourishing biodiversity. Since the designation of Noto as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2011, there have been active developments of conservation and revitalization efforts amongst the local governments, and communities, as well as pouring interest from the academia, international community and private sector. The paper will discuss the developments of Noto's GIAHS through examining several case studies of recent conservation and revitalization efforts of new initiatives and those building on existing schemes. The report will be based on literature reviews, interviews with and information provided by Ishikawa Prefectural Government and field surveys conducted. It is found that modest but steady steps are being taken in conservation of GIAHS and Noto is taking an active role contributing to the GIAHS initiative.

Implementing wildlife-friendly farming (WFF) practices is a sound approach to sustain ecological restoration of farmland. The aims of the study were to explore factors affecting farmers' implementation of WFF practices on Sado Island, Japan and to consider the policy implications of disseminating such practices. All 5010 farming households on Sado Island, who are distributing rice to Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA), were surveyed. In total, 2231 households responded to the questionnaire (response 44.5%). By comparing the attitudes, beliefs, and attributes of non-certified versus certified farmers, we identified key factors affecting farmers' implementation of WFF practices. Compared with non-certified farmers, certified farmers: (i) showed a greater interest in biodiversity and the financial benefits of WFF; (ii) had a larger number of certified farmer friends; (iii) felt many more pressures and expectations from consumers, in particular; and (iv) were not hampered by bad labor or farmland conditions when implementing WFF practices. To further disseminate WFF practices in Sado, we suggest that the information on the effectiveness of WFF on paddy field biodiversity is used in public education, and opportunities for interchanging opinions are set up between non-certified and certified farmers, as well as between farmers and consumers.

Agricultural heritage is an important type of world heritage. The special features of this kind of heritage are that they are "living" or "real life" systems, in both the ecosystem and in the cultural sense. So, agricultural heritage needs to be conserved in a special way. In a well-reasoned approach to dynamic conservation of agricultural heritage, careful development of heritage sites can realize greater sustainability of the traditional agriculture by considering both conservation and development though tourism. This paper examines the Global Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) as designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and listed by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as agricultural heritages sites. Currently, the research in China focuses on tourism resources evaluation and development, production design and marketing, tourism perception and the impacts of tourism development and so forth. There is less emphasis on research about benefit sharing of heritage tourism evolution mechanisms, environmental impacts of agricultural heritage tourism and study methods which should be analyzed in-depth, so as to illuminate the theories and practices of development in a living landscape.

In 2012 the Ministry of Agriculture of China launched a project exploring Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS). Through two rounds of applications and selection in 2012 and 2013, 39 traditional agricultural systems were selected and designated as China-NIAHS, including 19 forestry systems, 14 planting systems, four agricultural complex systems and two other systems. From a system origin perspective there were 24 agricultural systems, some dating back 1000 years. Twenty heritage systems are located in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities. Agricultural heritage systems face general challenges, such as ecosystem degradation and destruction, loss and abandonment of traditional agricultural technologies and landscapes, lagging agriculture scale and industrialization, and limited farmer benefit-sharing and incentives. Compared to other types of heritage, the conservation and development of agricultural heritage systems is more complex and difficult. In order to achieve sustainable development of agricultural heritage systems, the government should play a leading role and improve financial support functions. Local people should also explore market-oriented approaches and adaptive management methods on protection and development of NIAHS. Multi-participation and benefit-sharing mechanisms should be established and basic research needs to be strengthened.

In rural life,everything is connected to everything else.Seen as a complex adaptive system,the "rural" in most regions of the world has evolved over many centuries and is well known to have endured invasive predations and conflicts and to have adapted to changing conditions,both physical and human, many times.Such changes are recorded in the culture and in the landscapes which have continuously evolved and which characterize rural places today.These features of contemporary rural life-economy, culture and landscape-are the key elements of rural systems.Interestingly,they have also become the elements that attract tourists to rural areas.This theoretical paper,starts from the position that the rural world as a whole is complex and that systems adjust in the face of uncertainty,and a type of dynamism that is generated externally in the form of shocks and stresses.Complex Adaptive Systems theory provides an excellent opportunity to examine living systems such as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)in China that can provide new perspectives on resilience and self-organizing capabilities of the system.The paper suggests that adopting such approaches in contemporary research will produce new insights of whole systems and stem the tide of mainstream scientific research that reduces systems to their component parts and studies them with micro-techniques,while mostly failing to reintegrate the component parts back into the system as a whole.By reviewing this approach in relation to GIAHS and by introducing tourism into the rural village system,as a perturbation,we can create new ways to understand the effects of rural development interventions in ancient landscapes such as those which cover many parts of rural China today.

The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)initiative was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO)of the United Nations in 2002 with the aim of establishing the basis for the global recognition,dynamic conservation and adaptive management of outstanding traditional agricultural systems and their associated landscapes,biodiversity,knowledge systems and cultures.There is anecdotal evidence that designated GIAHS are economically better than non-GIAHS sites.However, there have not been done an economic analysis to prove this.Nor are any sophisticated economic performance criteria for GIAHS in place for a continuously monitoring of the functioning.Therefore,the main objective of this study is to conduct an economic valuation for a GIAHS system versus a similar non designated GIAHS system.For this,a Cost-Benefit Analysis(CBA)is chosen.The major constraint is the data availability.Therefore,a framework for economic analysis shall be developed with the intention to provide directions,assumptions,and data requirement to carry out an economic analysis and so give guidance on future inclusion of economic valuations of GIAHS.Theconceptual framework for economic assessment will use the Rice-Fish pilot site in China as a case study.The example calculations on the rice-fish co-culture(RFC)have to be taken cautiously due to data availability on different activities (tourism,marketed products on local and international markets)as well as comparison to similar systems.

This study seeks to isolate a select group of landscape metrics particularly well-suited for describing the Hani Terrace in southwest of China.We examined the response of 47 landscape metrics to a large range of imagery grain sizes.Based on a correlation analysis,the original 47 metrics were placed into 21 groups such that all metrics within a group were strongly correlated with each other with a value of more than 0.9,and were represented by a single descriptor.Using these cross-sectional metrics in the context of principal components analysis,we found that five factors explained almost 93%of the total variation in the landscape pattern.The highest loadings for these five factors were the Splitting index(SPLIT),Patch area distribution(AREA_CV),Shannon's diversity index(SHDI),Euclidean nearest neighbor distance distribution(ENN_AM),and Total core area(TCA),respectively.Considering the real landscape,we added the Patch fractal dimension distribution(FRAC_MN)as the sixth landscape pattern metric.As the scale effect of landscape pattern metrics we design to investigate how a suite of commonly use landscape metrics respond to changing grain size.Based on the anlasis,we determined that the best domain of scale to characterise the Hani Terrace pattern metrics is between 40m and 45m.Through the fractal method,we found that the characteristic scale of the Hani Terrace is the same as the scale domain of metrics,among the 40m and 45m.We suggest that the majority of the patterns in the Hani Terrace landscapes,indeed for all those in southwest China,can be described effectively with these six metrics.

This paper looks at the agricultural heritage potential of the tameike reservoirs in Japan,through a case study of the Kunisaki Peninsula,which was recognized as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System(GIAHS)in May,2013.The "tameike" in this area are small scale ponds storing spring water or water flowing through the short and rapid rivers of the area.Tameike construction in Kunisaki is found to be closely associated with the spread of wet rice cultivation and forestry.Most existing reservoirs were built during the Edo Period(1603-1867),and were managed through traditional farming knowhow till the postwar period.However,rapid decline in the use and ecosystem functions of these reservoirs ensued from the years of economic development,and at present,total number of these reservoirs has fallen to nearly one-third,compared to the pre-Meiji time.The GIAHS initiative is trying to reevaluate the ecosystem functions and knowledge systems associated with these reservoirs and link them to rural revitalization efforts.This article is based on both literature survey and field based research with regional coordinators,and comes to the conclusion that proper management of these reservoirs can successfully reinvigorate a culture of resource circulation,that defined the agri-heritage of Kunisaki area in historical times.

Agricultural ecosystems are the largest managed ecosystem in the world.The sustainable development of agriculture is significant to the reversion of dramatic loss of biological diversity in the world.Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)project launched by Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO)of the United Nations is among the global efforts to conserve and dynamically manage the specific agricultural knowledge system and landscapes.Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries(MAFF),Japan stressed the environmental concern of conventional farming practices in Japan in 1992.Noto Peninsula and Sado City were designated as two new GIAHS pilot sites in Japan as part of local level initiative to preserve the traditional agricultural systems in 2011.This paper reviewed the development process of sustainable farming in Japan and analyzed the challenges and new possibilities to its further extension.The current situation of various sustainable farming practices:such as farming with reduced input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to conserve rich biodiversity,and organic farming,were reviewed.Emphasis was given to the sustainable farming practices in Hokuriku region,in particular,Ishikawa Prefecture and Sado City in Niigata Prefecture.Based on the recent official documents,reports and research papers,policy implication was brought forward.The challenges of sustainable farming practices and market valuation of sustainable farming products were analyzed.It was concluded that the environmental concerns of farmers and consumers are key to extend the sustainable farming practice in Japan.Conversion to bottom up policy making process paying attention to farmers' interest with involvement of multi stakeholders including government,researchers and private sectors is effective for sustainable farming extension.

The renewed interest in "cultural landscapes" is a global phenomenon to be explained in a multi dimensional way.The process of revalorising traditional habitats,people and their way of living in a particular environment,is closely linked to the introduction of heritage as "a cultural,social and economic construct".The recognition of cultural landscapes as a new category on the world heritage list(UNESCO)since the 1990s,emphasises the importance of the human-environment interaction and the need for understanding the dynamics of landscapes in time and space.Values are changing and new opportunities emerge for a "dynamic preservation" of iconic landscapes and traditional communities.A cross disciplinary understanding of interacting processes is essential to plan and manage sustainable heritage(land)scapes.Various pilot projects and case studies-world-wide-lead to critical reflections about the sustainability of heritage landscapes and the sovereign role of tourism.The perspective of "Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Sites" (GIAHS),supported by economic resources generated by tourism,requires a research-based approach analysing opportunities and expectations,assessing strategic policies and top down politics.

Population growth,loss of biodiversity,and climate change necessitate a new vision for the future of both agriculture and biodiversity.In order to safeguard and support the world's agricultural heritage systems,in 2002 the FAO started an initiative for the conservation and adaptive management called Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS).Tourism is suggested as part of the future as it is considered to be an alternative income source that will not only promote local economic development,but also provide the opportunity for tourists to learn about agriculture and ecology. However,inappropriate tourism in GIAHS sites will bring impacts on local culture and living styles, which not only threatens tourism's sustainable development,but also has the potential to damage these unique agricultural systems.This paper proposes that agriculture-based tourism is suitable for GIAHS and that Multi-functionality of Agriculture(MFA)can be the link between agriculture and tourism.This study constructs the framework for tourism development in GIAHS through MFA and applies it to the four GIAHS sites in China.Referring to the quantitative assessment for MFA and a qualitative analysis of the relationship between agriculture and tourism,we can give advice on agricultural tourism development in GIAHS sites.This framework also offers a universal methodology that allows stakeholders to communicate about the multiple functions of GIAHS across scales.

The rich biodiversity and cultural patterns of agricultural heritage sites are preserved unconsciously in the traditional way of life of local communities.They are also attractive resources for tourism development,which supports the conservation of agricultural heritage systems(AHS)while providing benefits for local communities.As a typical case study,a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System(GIAHS)site with a Rice-Fish-Duck agricultural system(RFDS)in Congjiang County of South West China is introduced to illustrate the community approach to agricultural heritage conservation and sustainable tourism development.The concept of a community approach to agricultural heritage is dynamic both in terms of conservation and livelihood adaptation.Six elements in the concept model and their relationship were analyzed.The community is the core element and the other five are:local community identity,livelihoods,local sustainable tourism development,the farming system,biodiversity and cultural patterns in the site.All are interconnected and thus support the agricultural heritage conservation of agricultural heritage and the development of sustainable tourism in the heritage sites.

Most agro-cultural heritage tourism is community-based,for which the residents'attitudes towards tourism development are of crucial importance.Taking Ping'an Village as an example,the rice-terraced agro-cultural heritage in Guangxi,this study has probed into the interaction between the residents'perception of the culture change because of tourism development and the tourism development itself by using a field investigation method and statistical analysis.The field investigation has been employed to make the research more comprehensive.By applying exploratory factor analysis, four significant tourism perceptions have been found.They are environment perception,relationship perception,benefits perception and rights perception.Based on the factor analysis,the research undertakes statistical analysis upon resident samples of different groups by means of Pearson correlation coefficient,independent samples t-test and analysis of variance.The results show that although there exists different views from different residents,in general he residents hold a positive attitude towards developing heritage tourism.However,some existing problems such as environmental pollution,cultural reconstruction,the absence of residents'rights and unreasonable income distribution have seriously restricted the development of heritage tourism,which is specifically embodied in the following four points.Firstly,residents are discontented with the environmental pollution in the area.Residents'attitude towards future tourism development reflects a high correlation with positive perceptions of the village community.Secondly,residents are satisfied with community relationships after tourism has developed. The degree of satisfaction is relatively high for those who are not operating tourism,but low for families with poor annual tourism income.Thirdly,residents are dissatisfied with the distribution of income'from tourism.Families with relatively high annual tourism income show a lower degree of satisfaction.Fourthly, residents are not satisfied with their lack of rights in decision-making,in community participation and in tourism development.Residents who are educated to the secondary level show the highest degree of satisfaction in decision-making authority.Finally,some corresponding countermeasures and suggestions have been put forward to resolve the problems existing in the process of tourism development.

Grand Pré,Nova Scotia,an outstanding example of a traditional land-use that is representative of human interaction with a distinctive environment,has been presented for UNESCO World Heritage Site(WHS)designation.One of Canada's most fertile agricultural landscapes,it is also an iconic memorial site for a people who overcame a tragedy of forced migration-the Acadian Deportation-in 1755,which has since become the lure for significant numbers of tourists to the region.Now facing a double threat of agriculture change and tourism decline,Grand Préhas high expectations from its recent WHS designation (2012)and the perceived tourism that it will bring.This concept paper discusses Grand Préas a globally important agriculture heritage system and,in light of previous research,questions its expectations of WHS designation as a conduit for future economic viability and sustainability in the region.

Numerous studies have looked at sustainable tourism as the key to balancing environmental conservation and development in agricultural heritage sites.A microcosm of the traditional rural productive landscape,the Noto Satoyama Satoumi landscape has been designated as a pilot site for the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System(GIAHS)in Japan.This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of green tourism,focusing on the GIAHS program.The secondary objective is to explore the features of green tourism in Japan.First,the historic development and current state of green tourism in Japan is reviewed.The case in study is a typical green tourism project concerning an organization of farmers in the Noto Peninsula-the Shunran-no-Sato group.The question of how to develop green tourism in the context of the GIAHS project and considering the sustainable development of rural society and its farming systems by increasing incomes of rural households,is investigated.The study combined literature review and in-depth interviews with farm inn owners to investigate tourism development in the depopulated rural areas of Japan,examine its challenges,and present this information to international readers.