Report of ERECON Extension Programs in 2017
Following extension programs were implemented in theprogram year of 2017 from 1st April 2017 to the end of March2018.
1. Program on Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservationin Asian countries
1-1 Project of Green Promotion for Restoration of Satoyama in
Mondulkiri, Cambodia (Phases 1 and 2)
This project aims to promote technique and knowledge aboutsustainable forest management for generating income throughharvesting non-timber forest products among the local residents. The
project includes various workshops and reforestation activities withlocal residents and school students. These activities were conductedin Laoka Village and Pu Trohm Village, Senmonorom, Mondulkiri
Province in 2017.

1-3 Project on Reforestation for Forest Restoration in Nakhon
Ratchasima Province, Thailand
Natural forests are continuously decreasing due to land
conversion in Thailand. At the same time, biodiversity has beendamaged due to insufficient forest management. Deforestation is also
observed in Nakhon Ratchasima Province through illegal logging
and insufficient management of forests. Facing those issues, thisproject aimed to promote the reforestation activities among local
residents, as well as to initiate forest restoration by setting up
conservation systems. It is expected that this project contributes to“Sustainable Forest Management” in SDGs No.15.

Photo. 3 Reforestation activity in Nakhon Ratchasima Province,Thailand (Project 1-3)
1-4 Project on Reforestation for Forest Restoration in Chai Nat
Province, Thailand
The forest area has seriously decreased due to deforestation ofnatural forests through illegal logging and lacking effective forest
management in Chai Nat Province. Accordingly, this project aimed
to implement reforestation activities with local residents and privatesectors. As the results of this project, it is expected that thecommunity forests are managed well by local people that isdescribed in SDGs No.15 as “Sustainable Forest Management”.

Photo. 1 Reforestation activity in Mondulkiri Province,
Cambodia (Project 1-1)
1-2 Project of Reforestation for Biodiversity Conservation inKratie, Cambodia
Biodiversity has been severely damaged in Kratie Province ofEastern Cambodia due to sharp decrease and degradation of forest
owing to land conversion and illegal deforestation. This projectprovides the local residents with the opportunities of reforestationactivities through tree planting aiming at recovery of biodiversity andworkshops for enhancement of knowledge and technique aboutsustainable forest management and environmental conservation. Theactivities were conducted in Snuol Kert Village, Snuol Commune
and An Chan Village, Srey Cha Commune in Snuol District, Kratie in
2017.

Photo. 4 Reforestation activity in Chai Nat Province, Thailand(Project 1-4)
2. Program on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in Asian
countries
2-1 Sustainable Rural Development through Natural Resource
Management and Organic Farming in Kratie Province inCambodia
This project aims to promote sustainable rural development

Photo. 2 Reforestation activity in Kratie Province,Cambodia (Project 1-2)

１natural resources. The 1st to 3rd steps for the theme of soil fertility has
been implemented by the end of March 2018.

through natural resource management and organic farming in Kratie
Province, Cambodia. There are three main activities: the first is
holding ESD school monthly for disseminating the concept of SDGs;
the second promoting community forest and natural resource
management through production of non-timber forest products; andthe third promoting organic farming including proper usage ofchemical fertilizers and pesticides. In the last year 2017, the project
was implemented in Krosang Village and Trapeang Leak Village,Snuol Commune, Kratie Province, Cambodia.

Photo. 6 Training on sustainable farming practices based on
cyclic use of natural resources in Kampong ChamProvince, Cambodia (Project 2-2)
3. Program on Environmental Education in Asian countries
3-1 International Green Volunteer Training in Thailand
The International Green Volunteer Training was implemented
from August 6 to 14, 2017 in Thailand. The training tour wasorganized by ERECON under the Green Fund of the National Land
Afforestation Promotion Organization. This training aimed todeepen Japanese trainees’ understanding and knowledge of theimportance of reforestation, environmental conservation andinternational environmental cooperation. The ten Japanese trainees
in total have experienced fruitful 9 days in Thailand. They attended
lectures about forest facts of Thailand, visited several reforestation
project sites, and conducted reforestation with local residents andprivate sectors. The achivements of this training was presented at“GLOBAL FESTA JAPAN 2017” held at Tokyo, Japan and sharedwith many visitors.

Photo. 5 ESD school in Kratie Province, Cambodia (Project 2-1)
2-2 Project on Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Conditions
for Poverty Reduction in Kampong Cham Province,
Cambodia
In Cambodia, the usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides
has significantly increased to promote agricultural productivity.
However, due to the inappropriate use of agricultural chemicals suchas overuse and application without sufficient knowledge, it hascaused various problems to human and environmental health.
Although agricultural productivity has increased temporarily,
environmental issues such as soil degradation due to less organiccontents, water degradation such as eutrophication, etc. haveoccurred. The target area of this project, Kampong Cham Province
has faced the same issues. The former ERECON project reported thatagriculture of the province has the average characteristics of thecountry without any peculiarity from viewpoints of agriculturalconditions such as agricultural products or cultivating areas ofindividual farmers, etc. Therefore, it is expected that the outcomesfrom this project are applicable to the whole Cambodia. Based onthese facts, this project aims to promote sustainable agriculturalconditions for poverty reduction in Kampong Cham Province,Cambodia.
There are the following three steps in 2017: building capacity on
sustainable agriculture based on cyclic use of natural resourcesamong the officers of Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry,and Fishery (PDAFF) and District Department of Agriculture,Forestry, and Fishery (DDAFF) for extension skills and knowledge
from soft (knowledge, skills) to hard (facilities) measures (1st step);making PDAFF and DDAFF centers for promoting sustainableagriculture under the collaboration with local universities (2nd step);
and promoting sustainable farming practices based on cyclic use ofnatural resources among local farmers (3rd step).
There are three main themes in this project, which are the pestand disease control, the improvement of soil fertility and theirrigation technique in sustainable agriculture based on cyclic use ofPhoto. 7 Green Volunteer Training at ERECON reforestation
project site in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand(Project 3-1)
3-2 JICA Nikkei Training
The mono-culture has been widely adapted in Latin America for
producing cash crops. As it has degraded soil, local people increased
awareness of importance of soil conservation for sustainableagriculture in Latin America. This course is arranged for Nikkei
Trainees who are descendants of Japanese family under the supportof JICA. In the third time of this project for ERECON, we accepted
two Nikkei trainees from Brazil and Argentine from May toNovember 2017. In the course, trainees learned the methods and２

technique on agro-biodiversity, soil conservation, sustainableagriculture, project cycle management, participatory rural appraisal,and Satoyama conservation, etc. The trainees are expected to apply
the knowledge and technique from this training to their countries forsustainable development.

Photo. 10 Practical training on sustainable agriculture, Machida,Tokyo, Japan (Project 3-4)
3-4 Re-Inventing Japan Project InternshipThis is the internship program that ERECON provides for theexchange students in Tokyo University of Agriculture from Latin
America. For the 2017 fiscal year, the internship were held twice forten students in total. The interns learned about the importance ofsustainable use of natural resources in Japan, Asian countries andtheir own countries. The program contained introduction ofERECON’s projects in Asian countries, several sustainable farming
practices, Satoyama conservation, planning a project in theircountries, etc. The trainees showed their interest during each training
topic and high learning results in their presentations.
(Kumiko KAWABE, Ph.D., PM)

Photo. 8 Practical training on soil conservation through organic
farming, Machida, Tokyo, Japan (Project 3-2)
3-3 JICA ABE and PEACE Training Program
ERECON provided a training program for 3 graduate students
consisting of two Ph.D. course students in JICA project for thePromotion and Enhancement of the Afghan Capacity for EffectiveDevelopment (JICA PEACE) and one Master course students inJICA project for the African Business Education Initiative (JICAABE) belonging to Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo
University of Agriculture. The training program is mainly consistedof farmland management for watershed management and project
cycle management (PCM). The trainees learned how to manage
farmlands in Onoji-Satoyama areas and how to form a project
involving key stakeholders.

Photo. 9 Training on watershed management, Machida,
Tokyo, Japan (Project 3-3)

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