A major barrier in considering contemporary environmental issues is the gap in timescales between social systems and the natural world.“Plans by government bodies and corporations are typically formulated on a timeframe of 5 to 10 years, or at most 20 years.However, the workings of the forest operate on cycles spanning 50 to 100 years – cycles that exceed human lifespans,” notes Associate Professor Yokota.

Inherently, coexisting with nature requires embracing this extended timeframe.The traditional forestry practices of the past exemplify this approach.The act of cultivating trees necessitates a vision spanning 50 to 100 years, looking ahead to the generations of one’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren.People in the past accepted timelines exceeding their own lifespans as a matter of course, embedding the inheritance of assets to future generations within their economic activities.At Ise Grand Shrine’s Shikinen Sengū ritual, trees are still cultivated with a 200-year outlook for the 20-year cycle of relocation, perpetuating an ultra-long-term framework for inheriting techniques and materials.Now that such ‘100-year plan’ thinking is fading, we must question how to reintegrate long-term timelines into social systems, moving beyond human-centered, shortsighted perspectives.

When adopting a long-term perspective, what is needed is not merely the viewpoint of restoration – returning nature to its ‘original state’ – but also the viewpoint of regeneration: improving it to suit the current environment.For instance, in the natural regeneration of Ōdaigahara, where Associate Professor Yokota is involved, one benchmark is to restore the vegetation to its state before the Ise Bay Typhoon in the 1950s.However, with the current progress of global warming, completely restoring things like former spruce forests is becoming increasingly difficult.“Rather than striving to reclaim past forms forcefully, we should not ignore natural variations such as vegetation changes accompanying climate change,” says Associate Professor Yokota.On the other hand, changes in Ōdaigahara involve multiple intertwined human factors: post-typhoon management, the growth of tourism, increased deer populations, and air pollution.While respecting natural succession, what is essential regarding the destruction resulting from human intervention is an attitude of: ‘Having become involved, we must continue to engage responsibly.’In modern society, which demands short-term results, valuing this responsible ongoing engagement is difficult.To ensure that the increasing corporate CSR activities seen in recent years do not end as a temporary trend but become established as long-term endeavors, we need new measures that can evaluate the diversity of nature properly in each location, not just one-size-fits-all numerical targets.

Alongside these renewed social measures, our own attitude towards nature is called into question.No matter how well-established the systems are, inherent coexistence cannot be achieved as long as those working on the ground view nature as a controllable object.So, what stance should we deal with when engaging with nature?Associate Professor Yokota suggests we should regard nature much like a stranger we meet for the first time, whose thoughts we cannot fathom.“Just as it would be discourteous to attempt to control a stranger upon first meeting, our approach to nature must first involve observation and a posture of ‘Getting to know an other,’” he says.When entering the forest, people tend to focus their attention on what to do – tasks like surveying or maintenance.However, Associate Professor Yokota emphasizes that what is crucial is awakening all five senses to the ‘messages from nature’ – the songs of birds, the sound of the wind, and the traces of animals.Accepting what we do not understand as unknown, then questioning the phenomena before us – ‘Why is this happening?’ – and letting our thoughts turn to nature’s cycles.This is the very first step towards re-examining how we interact with nature and achieving human-nature symbiosis.

It is difficult for urban dwellers to contemplate nature’s cycles.In environments where water flows from the faucet, the process of its origin remains invisible, making it hard for an environmental imagination to function.This attitude of disconnecting one’s senses from the surrounding environment permeates across urban lives.An effective countermeasure is to physically change location, even if only on weekends, placing oneself outside optimized environments.By relativizing one’s current living environment, one can loosen rigid perceptions.Encountering nature’s complexity in nearby satoyama (woodland-village landscapes) enables us to extend our imagination further – to the headwaters in the distant mountains and the vast resource cycles connecting forests and cities.Through such experiences, increasing the number of people who can envision natural cycles and imagine their connection to their own lives should pave the way towards a sustainable society.