Environmental Activities that start from Sakuragi Forest of Natural Organisms (A School Biotope)(Groupe)
*Participant name
Hiroaki Kato(chaperon)
Kazuki Kashiwabara
Takuya Yamamoto
Yui Oba
Tatsuki Oba
Yuta Shinno
Ryohei Hayashi
Yoshika Kono
Hiromi Fujiki
*Project name
Environmental Activities that start from Sakuragi Forest of Natural Organisms (A School Biotope)
*Country/Region
Aichi Prefecture, Japan
*Type of Group
School
*Number of total members of your group/project
62 persons
*Number of regular participants in activities
62 persons
*Characteristic of members
We work on creating a biotope for natural organisms in our school yard and bring in and take care of endangered wildlife. In order to replicate the hometown mountains of one hundred years ago, we make rice paddy and clean Sanagawa (river) which lies nearby us. We have succeeded at reducing the usage of electricity and water by thirty percent compared to the previous year.
*Theme(s) of your group/project
*Biodiversity, *Energy Issues, *Forests/Tree Planting, *Land and Sols, *Nature Conservation, *Wastes and Recycling, *Water Issues, *Climate Change/Global Warming Effect
*Missions and activities of your group/project
Our sixth grade students, who are the core members of our group, work on environmental activities related to our on-campus school biotope, "Sakuragi Forest of Natural Organisms."We put in practice what we can do for the nature and convey it to other schools.
*Characteristics of the group/project activities
Our group is divided into six sub groups, each of which has their own theme: Water, Energy, Endangered Wildlife, Maintaining the Biotope, Soil and Rice Paddy, and Information.
*Most importnat way of thinking of your group/project for environment
To know the Nature. "Experiential Activities First"
*Major publications and articles
2004 National Biotope Concur, won the highest award
*What kind of group/project do you want to exchange for imformation and experience with?
Groups protecting endangered wildlife. Groups working on creating cities that can coexist with nature. Schools participating in earth friendly activities.
*Short message for exchange with other group/project
At Sakuragi Elementary School, we take part in nature conservation activities which are doable at school. Please contact us to exchange information and learn from each other's activities.
*Impression of Children's World Summit for the Environment 2005 Aichi
I wasn't quite prepared to communicate with foreigners in English and felt very nervous during action groups. But with the help of the volunteers, I was able to take part in discussions at ease. I also discovered many differences between Japan and oversea countries through these discussions. (i.e. temperature setting of air conditioners) I made new friends with foreign participants and my interest in foreign countries grew stronger. The time at the Summit flew by leaving me wishing it was much longer.
*Others
It was after being involved in making rice paddy that I felt the joy of environmental activities. That led me to get started on the biotope as well. Maintaining the biotope is rather enjoyable since we do it on holidays with neighbors in the region. I believe that the current environmental problems exist because people in developed countries have not enough chances to feel and experience the nature. Our school has an abundance of nature allowing us students to savor it during recess and after school. That explains why children at our school all care about the nature.
*Contact person
Hiroaki Kato
*Contact Address
14 Kozakura-cho, Toyokawa-city, Aichi 442-0021 Japan
bzl03743@sa2.so-net.ne.jp
*URL of Web site of your group/project
http://www.tokilink.jp/~te-sakuragi/
