Determinants of Sustainability in Satoyama Conservation: Evidence from a Social Network Analysis in Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Determinants of Sustainability in Satoyama Conservation: Evidence from a Social Network Analysis in Chiba Prefecture, Japan | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Determinants of Sustainability in Satoyama Conservation: Evidence from a Social Network Analysis in Chiba Prefecture, Japan Keiko Yoshikawa This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7207564/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigates the determinants of sustainability in community-based environmental initiatives by analyzing 88 cases of Satoyama Conservation Agreements in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Combining survival analysis with social network metrics, we assess the effects of financial subsidies and participation in regional support networks on the duration of conservation activities. The findings reveal that while financial support alone has limited influence, involvement in horizontally-structured support networks is significantly associated with longer agreement duration. Centrality within the network also appears to positively affect persistence. The study contributes to the literature on environmental governance and evidence-based policy making (EBPM) by demonstrating that non-financial, network-oriented interventions can play a critical role in policy effectiveness. It further proposes an integrated theoretical framework that reconceptualizes networks as infrastructures generating legitimacy, trust, and visibility—crucial elements for sustaining collective action. These insights have broad applicability for designing resilient, context-sensitive environmental policies across decentralized and peri-urban settings. Journal of Economic Literature classification numbers; Q57, Q23, D85 Humanities/Complex networks Social science/Complex networks Social science/Development studies Business and commerce/Economics Social science/Economics Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Social science/Environmental studies Scientific community and society/Geography Social science/Geography Satoyama conservation social network analysis nature-based solutions (NbS) Evidence-based policy making (EBPM) resource mobilization Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Appendix.zip Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 15 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 24 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 03 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 26 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 20 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 20 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7207564","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":611210683,"identity":"651d49e0-4d4f-46e3-b02e-acbfc2d1b619","order_by":0,"name":"Keiko Yoshikawa","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5ElEQVRIie3RMQrCMBSA4RcC6RLpGinYK7QUxEHxKi1Cu9jdQSRQqIvg2kHoFXqEipCpeIaA4ORQ8AK2dtAp1U0k/xjy8XgJgE73ixl7WfoOG72f+WpCKyTr1cQD8jFhS+xm1SrgRH3vlcljYQ1SFuU5R3e6BtvkcJXKIeU5bElcCMAWFeBmJUSOijiIjztCgOABB1QAhExJMDxJZKcdmfcTQr1mfeaD6EjQS1hFguaRmVuIIBkeBFtkp55dzPxSNl+5se3kdKxv6+lsv92FUkXeQrydCoBp+KF4ZYiviU6n0/11D2W1QYLNh6LCAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Chiba University of Commerce","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Keiko","middleName":"","lastName":"Yoshikawa","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-24 16:38:26","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7207564/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7207564/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105566393,"identity":"392564cf-a168-4c43-a277-4588ceb1deff","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 12:56:20","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":944581,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript250724Revised08070821.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7207564/v1_covered_a6d57bce-cd4b-45df-a8ae-fd113c5b7894.pdf"},{"id":105422718,"identity":"72ee181a-60ed-48df-9861-d41eeac12e8e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-25 22:11:59","extension":"zip","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":408331,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Appendix.zip","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7207564/v1/272fbad47ba14d7fc6f0dee2.zip"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Determinants of Sustainability in Satoyama Conservation: Evidence from a Social Network Analysis in Chiba Prefecture, Japan","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Satoyama conservation, social network analysis, nature-based solutions (NbS), Evidence-based policy making (EBPM), resource mobilization","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7207564/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7207564/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study investigates the determinants of sustainability in community-based environmental initiatives by analyzing 88 cases of Satoyama Conservation Agreements in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. 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