A. Species
Scientific name: Luciola cruciata
Common name(s): Genji firefly
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status:
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Honshu
Country/Region: Japan
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Individual Site
Name/Details of location: Tatsuno
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2018
End Year: 2018
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Non-Extractive
Practice of use:
Lethal or non-lethal:
Does this use involve take/extraction of:
Purpose(s) of end use: Ceremony and ritual expression, Recreation and Conservation Management
Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community), Recreational and Traditional/Cultural/Spiritual
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people, National / local private sector, National external and International external
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: Only due to the efforts of local school teachers to raise awareness and educate children, who in turn spend their evenings patrolling the river bank to educate adults which ultimately resulted in the Tatsuno firefly festival, were Genji fireflies brought back to and protected in the area.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Numbers increased over virtual extinction (also through reintroduction from other areas), now stable despite high interannual variation
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: firefly villages are important economic enterprises and usually well organised, regulated and managed. However, firefly villages are only sustainable if they incorporate protection of firefly habitats as a main goal.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: firefly villages are important economic enterprises and usually well organised, regulated and managed. However, firefly villages are only sustainable if they incorporate protection of firefly habitats as a main goal.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Author states: "The thesis aims to answer the question of whether the wish to protect fireflies is compatible with their use as tools for town revitalisation. While I find the answer is often a complex interaction between the two, there are instances in which firefly ecology is ignored, for instance in the case of importation of foreign firefly species. Additionally, I find that a third element – affect – is also of significance, as people often structure their relations to fireflies around fond childhood memories. Throughout, I make a case for the importance of protecting insects in this age of mass extinction of insects and animals due to anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems. I therefore argue that firefly villages are only appropriate if they incorporate protection of firefly habitats as a main goal."
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2019-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-12-27