Report of ERECON Extension Programs in 2018
Following extension programs were implemented in theprogram year of 2018 from 1st April 2018 to the end of March2019.
1. Program on Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservationin Asian Countries
1-1 Project of Green Promotion for Restoration of Satoyama in
Mondulkiri, Cambodia (Phases 2 and 3)
In Mondulkiri Province of Cambodia, this project aims topromote the technique and knowledge of sustainable forest
management for generating income through harvesting non-timber
forest products among the local residents. The project includes
various workshops and reforestation activities with local residents
and school students. These activities were conducted in Senmonoromof Mondulkiri Province in 2018.

Land conversion from natural forests to agricultural fields iscontinuously progressing in Thailand. At the same time, biodiversity
has been damaged due to insufficient forest management amonglocal residents. Deforestation is also observed in Nakhon Ratchasima
Province through illegal land encroachment. Facing those issues, thisproject aimed to promote the reforestation activities among localresidents, as well as to initiate forest restoration by setting upconservation 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 (Phases 1 and 2)
In Chai Nat Province of Thailand, the forest area has been
seriously decreasing due to deforestation through illegal logging andlack of effective forest management. Accordingly, this project aimed
to implement reforestation activities with local residents and privatesectors. As a result of this project, it is expected that the community
forests will become well managed by local residents, as mentioned 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 (Phases 2 and 3)
In Kratie Province, eastern part of Cambodia, biodiversity has
been severely damaged due to sharp decrease and degradation offorest owing to land conversion and illegal deforestation. This projectprovides the local residents opportunities of reforestation activities
aiming to recover biodiversity and workshops for deepening
knowledge and technique on sustainable forest management andenvironmental conservation. The activities were conducted in SnuolDistrict, Kratie in 2018.

Photo. 4 Reforestation activity in Chai Nat Province, Thailand(Project 1-4)
1-5 Strengthening National Biodiversity and Forest Carbon
Stock Conservation Through Landscape-based Collaborative
Management of Cambodia’s Protected Area System asDemonstrated in the Eastern Plains Landscape (CAMPAS)
This project aimed to establish the system of community-based
forest management and rehabilitation in community protected areas(CPA) located in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia. There are twoPhoto. 2 Reforestation activity in Kratie Province,
Cambodia (Project 1-2)
1-3 Project on Reforestation for Forest Restoration in Nakhon
Ratchasima Province, Thailand (Phases 1 and 2)

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main activities to restore degraded forest areas through promoting
reforestation and agro-forestry practices as well as to increase
resource and livelihood security for communities in protected areas.
In this project, there were various workshops on forest conservation
and reforestation as well as trainings on non-timber forest resources
utilization and management in 2018. Also, native tree seedlings forreforestation and agro-forestry farms are produced in the nurseries
and maintained by project beneficiaries.

pillar is to build a capacity on sustainable agriculture based on cyclicuse of natural resources among the officers of Provincial Departmentof 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, the second pillar is making PDAFF andDDAFF centers for promoting sustainable agriculture under thecollaboration with local universities, and the third pillar is topromote sustainable farming practices based on cyclic use of naturalresources, among local farmers. In 2018, various trainings andworkshops on sustainable agriculture based on cyclic use of naturalresources, particularly focusing on the pest and disease management
and the improvement of soil fertility were conducted, not only to thePDAFF and DDAFF officers, but also to local farmers in Kampong
Cham Province. Lastly in August 2018 before the end of the firstyear of the project, the project was evaluated on the basis of theOECD-DAC.

Photo. 5 Growing native tree seedlings in nursery located atMondulkiri Province, Cambodia (Project 1-5)
2. Program on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in AsianCountries
2-1 Sustainable Rural Development through Natural Resource
Management and Organic Farming in Kratie Province inCambodia (Phase 3)
In Kratie Province of Cambodia, this project has been
implemented to promote sustainable rural development throughnatural resource management and organic farming. There are threemain activities: the first is holding ESD school monthly fordisseminating the concept of SDGs; the second is promoting
community forest and natural resource management throughproduction of non-timber forest products; and the third is promoting
organic farming as well as proper usage of chemical fertilizers andpesticides. In the program year of 2018, the project was implemented
in 2 sub-villages of Snuol Commune, Krosang and Trapeang Leak
Villages in Kratie Province, Cambodia.

Photo. 7 Project evaluation held in Kampong Cham Province,
Cambodia (Project 2-2)
3. Program on Environmental Education in Asian Countries
3-1 International Green Volunteer Training in Thailand
From August 6 to 14, 2018, the International Green Volunteer
Training was implemented in Thailand. The training tour wascoordinated by ERECON under the Green Fund of the National
Land Afforestation Promotion Organization. This training aimed todeepen Japanese trainees’ perception and knowledge of theimportance of reforestation, environmental conservation andinternational environmental cooperation. The eleven Japanesetrainees in total have experienced meaningful 9 days in Thailand.
They visited several reforestation project sites and conductedreforestation activity with local residents and private sectors. The
achivements of this training were presented with Thai buddies atlocal university, RMUTT, as well as Global Festa Japan 2018 heldin Tokyo and shared with many visitors.

Photo. 6 Setting up nursery in Snuol Commune, Cambodia(Project 2-1)
2-2 Project on Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Conditions
for Poverty Reduction in Kampong Cham Province,
Cambodia (Phases 1 and 2)
This project is constituted with following three pillars. The first

Photo. 8 Green Volunteer Training at ERECON reforestation
project site in Thailand (Project 3-1)

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3-2 JICA Nikkei Training
In Latin America, the mono-culture has been widely adapted for
producing cash crops. As it has degraded soil conditions, localresidents increased awareness of importance of soil conservation forsustainable agriculture in Latin America. This course is arranged for
Nikkei Trainees who are descendants of Japanese family under the
support of JICA. In the fourth time of this project for ERECON, we
accepted one Nikkei trainee from Bolivia and conducted the course
from May to November 2018. In the course, the trainee learned themethods and technique on agro-biodiversity, soil conservation,
sustainable agriculture, project cycle management, participatory ruralappraisal, and Satoyama conservation, etc. The trainee is expected toapply the knowledge and technique from this training to his country
for sustainable development in agriculture.

3-4 Re-Inventing Japan Project InternshipThis is the internship program that ERECON provides for theexchange students at Tokyo University of Agriculture from Latin
America. For the 2018 program year, the internship was held 3 times
for 14 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 interests during eachtraining topic and high learning results in their presentations.

Photo. 11 Internship on Satoyama conservation in Machida,Tokyo, Japan (Project 3-4)
(Kumiko KAWABE, Ph.D., Director of Extension Center)

Photo. 9 Practical training on soil conservation through organic
farming in Machida, Tokyo, Japan (Project 3-2)
3-3 Project on Promoting Soil Carbon Storage with Household
Toolkit to Achieve Low-Carbon & Recycling-Based Society
It is expected that carbon storage is advanced in farmlands
including kitchen gardens. This project is implemented todisseminate the importance of carbon storage in farmlands including
kitchen gardens through various exhibitions, such as Global FestivalJapan 2018. Additionally, five trainings of soil carbon storage wereheld and totally 208 participants attended. During the trainings, thehousehold toolkits for soil carbon storage and the guidebooks weredistributed.

Photo. 10 Trainings for soil carbon storage with household toolkit
in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan (Project 3-3)

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