As the Japanese Countryside Empties Out, Wildlife Is Disappearing

Japan’s rural depopulation is driving biodiversity loss even as farmland is abandoned and nature reclaims the landscape, with a 2025 study finding that wildlife abundance held steady only where human populations were stable and fell where they declined. Researchers recorded drops in butterflies, fireflies, frogs, birds and native plants across depopulated areas, because the mosaic of rice paddies, pastures and coppiced woodlands that sustained these species depended on continuous human tending. The pattern extends beyond Japan, from Spain to China, as rural residents move to cities in search of work. Lead author Adam Spitzig, a PhD candidate at Stanford University, said the lesson for modern conservation is that the choice is not simply between farming and biodiversity, since small diversified farms can sustain both. What to watch next is whether policy shifts toward supporting small-scale, diversified agriculture rather than treating farmland abandonment as a win for nature.