14, 2025) – Japan’s declining population in agricultural regions could be having a damaging impact on biodiversity, a new study suggests. “Japan’s biodiversity has long been sustained by traditional rural livelihood practices such as wet rice agriculture, forest and soil management, and the maintenance of rural landscapes. These human activities have shaped and supported ecological richness for centuries,” said Kei Uchida, Associate Professor at Tokyo City University. What the data revealedThe researchers analysed population, land use and surface temperature in rural areas throughout Japan. Irrespective of human population increase or decrease, biodiversity losses were found in most species studied.