Abstract: Commercial infrastructures intended for use as leisure
retreats such as golf and ski resorts have been extensively developed in many rural areas of Japan. However, following the burst of the economic bubble in the 1990s, several existing resorts faced tough
management decisions and some were forced to close their business.
In this study, six alternative management options for restructuring the
existing golf courses (park, cemetery, biofuel production, reforestation,
pasturing and abandonment) are examined and their environmental
and economic impacts are quantitatively assessed. In addition,
restructuring scenarios of these options and an ex-ante assessment
model are developed. The scenario analysis by Monte Carlo simulation shows a clear trade-off between GHG savings and benefit/cost (B/C) ratios, of which “Restoring Nature" scenario
absorbs the most CO2 among the four scenarios considered, but its B/C
ratio is the lowest. This study can be used to select or examine options
and scenarios of golf course management and rural environmental
management policies.