Abstract For successful protected area (PA) management, it is essential to understand residents’ perceptions during the early phases of the designation process. However, most studies on residents’ perceptions have been conducted after PA designation due to the lack of researcher–policymaker cooperation. In this study, we reveal residents’ perceptions before the PA designation of Japan’s Amami Islands as a national park and a Natural World Heritage Site. We conducted a questionnaire survey using an open-ended question to collect textual answers on residents’ perceptions of nature and the local economic activities. We then categorized these answers into six topics by applying topic models and interpreted the topics qualitatively, indicating their content. We also examined the relativity of the topics and the islands using correspondence analysis. The residents were more interested in the landscapes relevant to their livelihoods and expected them to be managed. This result implies discrepancy between residents’ perceptions and the PA draft management plan because the draft plan mainly focuses on the conservation of biodiversity in subtropical rainforests, whereas residents were unfamiliar with this. With regard to the local economic activities, residents expected enhancement of agriculture and traditional craft industries and nature-based tourism. Furthermore, residents’ perceptions were probably influenced by the context of the islands on which they lived. We suggest adoption of suitable PA management and communication strategies for each island in view of residents’ perceptions. Our approach has enabled us to understand residents’ perceptions that have been disregarded through the PA designation process.

中文翻译：

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日本奄美群岛保护区指定前使用开放式问题了解居民对自然和当地经济活动的看法

摘要 对于成功的保护区 (PA) 管理，在指定过程的早期阶段了解居民的看法至关重要。然而，由于缺乏研究人员与政策制定者的合作，大多数关于居民感知的研究都是在 PA 指定之后进行的。在这项研究中，我们揭示了在 PA 将日本奄美群岛指定为国家公园和自然世界遗产之前居民的看法。我们使用开放式问题进行问卷调查，收集有关居民对自然和当地经济活动的看法的文本答案。然后我们通过应用主题模型将这些答案分为六个主题，并定性地解释这些主题，表明它们的内容。我们还使用对应分析检查了主题和岛屿的相关性。居民对与其生计相关的景观更感兴趣，并期望它们得到管理。这一结果意味着居民的看法与保护区管理计划草案之间存在差异，因为计划草案主要关注亚热带雨林的生物多样性保护，而居民对此并不熟悉。对于当地的经济活动，居民期望加强农业和传统手工业以及以自然为基础的旅游。此外，居民的看法可能受到他们所居住岛屿环境的影响。考虑到居民的看法，我们建议为每个岛屿采用合适的 PA 管理和沟通策略。