Hiroki Kouno(participant)

*Country/Region

Kochi Prefecture, Japan

*Type of Group

Home

*Number of total members of your group/project

Varies from time to time.

*Number of regular participants in activities

One to several people

*Characteristic of members

I love the nature, but it is being lost in the recent years. In order to protect it, I'm doing research on the nature around me. Once a year, my friends in nearby schools and I report at the Children's Environment Forum. We also report our findings at the Kochi City Science Exhibit by Elementary and Junior High School Students.

*Theme(s) of your group/project

*Biodiversity, *Land and Soil, *Nature Conservation

*Missions and activities of your group/project

More and more residential houses are being built in the area I live in, resulting in the loss of nature. Every year I do research and report my findings on the plant life, geological condition, and small creatures in the area. Protecting and nurturing the remaining nature is my goal.

*Characteristics of the group/project activities

Our group is made up of children and not organized and run by the region or adults. We children enjoy the nature around us, absorb it, do research, contemplate, report, and protect it.

*Most importnat way of thinking of your group/project for environment

By familiarizing ourselves with the nature around us, we learn of its current condition. We take necessary action after careful consideration of what we can do.

*Major publications and articles

2001-2005 Received 5 consecutive Grand Prize awards in the Kochi City Science Exhibit by Elementary and Junior High School Students- Made a presentation in the Children's Environment Forum

*Short message for exchange with other group/project

 I love the nature. My home town Kochi has an abundance of nature but it's being destroyed rapidly in recent years. I believe in the importance of doing research on the nature around us, reporting the findings to people around, and taking part in activities in order to protect the nature.

*Impression of Children's World Summit for the Environment 2005 Aichi

Despite the fact that I couldn't understand the language of others very well, I felt we shared the same thoughts. It became clear to me that children from all over the world also felt the pressing need to protect the nature and were taking part in research and other activities of their own. What I'm doing may be very little. But if it catches on in the world and children from all over the world participate, no matter small each person's effort may be, will lead to a strong force to protect the earth.

*Others

I always had a love for nature since I was little. There is an abundance of nature around me and I can spot little creatures often invisible to adults. My dream is to travel to many places in the hopes of encountering creatures and plant life I have never seen before. I would also like to help to increase the number of creatures and plant life so everyone can come in contact with them more easily.