Greening in urban areas and forests can provide people with valuable environmental and social benefits. Active involvement by local stakeholders is crucial for effective tree conservation. Our study focused on the past and current uses, management, and conservation of old-growth fukugi (Garcinia subelliptica) trees from the perspective of local stakeholders in rural homesteads on Ryukyu Archipelago, a small island archipelago in Japan. We conducted semi-structured interviews with local communities and local leaders on five small islands and in two hamlets on mainland Okinawa. We found that residents highly valued fukugi homestead trees as windbreaks. Other benefits derived from these trees included traditional dyeing material and green manure. Problems associated with these trees, such as fallen leaves and fruits, and the potential risk of injury caused by strong winds have jeopardized conserving the existing trees. Our results indicate that the value of trees to human wellbeing and society has changed dramatically from largely providing provisioning services meeting local people’s basic needs to regulating services, e.g., protecting the houses from natural disasters, and cultural services. Opinions in terms of services and disservices differed among islands and stakeholders. Accordingly, decision-makers should consider these changes/differences when developing conservation policies. We highlight several alternative uses for old-growth trees, such as tourist attractions, and propose a multi-stakeholder conservation strategy, which will be important for the sustainable management of fukugi trees.

中文翻译：

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日本琉球群岛上宅基地中的老树：用途，管理与保护

城市地区和森林的绿化可以为人们提供宝贵的环境和社会效益。当地利益相关者的积极参与对于有效的树木保护至关重要。我们的研究侧重于老式藤本植物（藤黄）的过去和现在的用途，管理和保护）从琉球群岛（日本的一个小岛群岛）的农村宅基地的当地利益相关者的角度来看树。我们在五个小岛和冲绳大陆的两个小村庄对当地社区和当地领导人进行了半结构化采访。我们发现居民高度重视福吉宅基地树木作为防风林。这些树木的其他好处包括传统的染色材料和绿肥。与这些树木相关的问题，例如落叶和果实，以及强风造成的潜在伤害风险已经危害了现有树木的保存。我们的结果表明，树木对人类福祉和社会的价值已经发生了巨大的变化，从提供满足当地人民基本需求的配给服务到规范服务（例如，保护房屋免受自然灾害和文化服务。在服务和残障方面，各岛和利益相关者的意见不同。因此，决策者在制定保护政策时应考虑这些变化/差异。我们重点介绍了一些老树的替代用途，例如旅游景点，并提出了多方利益相关者保护战略，这对于福吉树的可持续管理非常重要。