2021 TOP 100 GOOD
PRACTICE STORY
Title of the Story: The more people come to the island, the more
beautiful it becomes.
Destination Name: (include any state, province or region)
Yoron Town ,Kagoshima Prefecture
Country: Japan

Submitter name: Maki Yanagita
Email address: mk.yanagita@yorontou.info
Position: General Manager,DMO Office,Yoron town
Nomination Category: (Please check the boxes that indicate the focus of your story)
Please find detailed information for the categories below in the Top 100 training module ‘Good
Practice Story’.
☐ Localizing the destination supply chain☐ Decarbonizing the destination supply chain☐ Culture & Communities☐ Environment & Climate☒ Nature & Ecotourism☐ Tourism Reset & Recovery

Find detailed instructions for submitting good practices in the Top 100 training module“Good Practice Story”.
Should you have any questions on your submission please refer to our FAQ page orcontact top100@greendestinations.org

DESCRIBE YOUR GOOD PRACTICE STORY
Address each aspect of your good practice story in the different sections being specific including relevant quantitativeand qualitative information.

Issues faced
What was the problem/issue solved with the good practice? Click to add your text

Yoron Island is a part of the Amami Islands where a group of islands are located about
600 km offshore from Kagoshima and Okinawa. Yoron Island is the southernmost tip ofKagoshima Prefecture, an island with an area of 20.58 square kilometers, with an altitudeof 97.1 meters, inhabited with a population of about 5,000, and surrounded by coral reefs.
Yoron so unique that everything is deeply related to the ocean. Its food culture, customs
and lifestyle events are the typical examples of the connection to the ocean.
The mainstream of tourism in Yoron Island is marine leisure in the summer
season,supported by many tourism businesses. So there are concerns that thedeterioration of the marine environment will have a negative impact on the leisureprograms offered by these businesses. The mass outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish in
the 1980s and the global coral bleaching phenomenon in 1998 are notable examples ofenvironmental degradation.
In the 1990s and 2000s, plastic bottles and other marine debris drifting from Japan andneighboring countries began to be noticed on the island's beaches, causing the recent
deterioration of Yoron Island's coastal environment.
Methods, steps and tools applied
The steady activities of local residents, organizations and businesses to clean up marine
debris and to conserve coral led to solving the problems of tourism in Yoron. The local
government supported these private activities, which became more active, and began
drawing tourists to join the activities together with the local residents. The cleanup ofmarine debris and reef checks began to attract attention as an experiential program on
the island. As a result of these activities, 44 tons of marine debris were collected inFY2020, and there are fewer instances to see marine debris on the beaches.
In addition to tourism, elementary, junior high and high schools on the island havestarted comprehensive studies based on “ocean literacy and education," with a view tofostering the next generation of leaders of Yoron Island. Also, children's participation involunteer activities to remove the marine debris is also increasing. The review of therelationship with the sea in Yoron Island will contribute to fostering awareness of theneed to balance tourism and the environment, which is unique to the island region.

Key success factors
One of the main reasons for the success of the project is the integrated effort in which
not only the tourism industry but also the local government provides support for theindependent and continuous activities of local residents, and that a variety of players,
including tourists and local residents along with children, participate in the project.
As a concrete example, coral conservation activities include monitoring surveys andextermination of harmful organisms commissioned by the government, as well as
voluntary reef inspections by private organizations. As for the garbage washed ashore, inaddition to the beach cleanup activities directly conducted by the government, there arevolunteer activities that local residents and others have been proactively engaged in, withthe government responsible for supporting materials such as garbage bags and collecting
and disposing of the garbage collected from the activities.

Another success factor is the establishment of a system to recognize the activities andsecure a variety of actors, in addition to the production of promotional videos introducing
the activities, widespread publicity through various media such as newspapers andtelevision. Supplementing this are , commendations by the local government, as well as
the inclusion of “ocean literacy and education” in the integrated studies of elementaryand junior high schools on the island.
The spread of these activities has also led to a heightened awareness of garbage among
islanders, with the tourism association producing eco-bags to reduce the use of plastic
bags, with the restaurant association beginning to consider charging for take-out cups
and water services to promote the use of personal bottles.
Lessons learned
The government has been providing support in the form of garbage bags and othermaterials, as well as collecting and disposing of the garbage collected during theactivities. In addition, as the number of residents and tourists who pick up marine debris
on a daily basis has increased with the spread of the activities, private organizations andthe government have collaborated to set up "pick-up boxes" at major beaches wherepeople can put the marine debris they have picked up. This has made it possible for manypeople to casually pick up marine debris regardless of the time of day. The installation ofpick-up boxes itself has become a PR campaign, leading to increased awareness andparticipation, including those by tourists.
One of the unique features of the project is the active use of "Furusato (hometown) tax
payment" as a part of the financial resources required for the government to support such
marine environment conservation and ocean education activities.
It is a system that allows people to indirectly support activities such as town development
and environmental conservation.
Results, achievements and recognitions

As drifting litter activities have become more widely known, the number of participants in the activities
of a typical group has increased year by year from 2,385 in FY2017 to 3,298 in FY2019. With thisincrease in the number of participants and frequency of activities, it is becoming possible to collect not
only large, easily visible litter, but also microplastics. In addition, coral monitoring surveys areconducted about 14 times a year by both the private sector and the government. In particular, about
30 volunteer divers -- both from the island and outside of the island -- participate in the reef checkconducted by the private sector every year, and the number of new participants from younger
generations is increasing every year. As a result of these activities, the government, fisherycooperatives, tourism associations, private organizations, universities and other related organizations
are collaborating to conduct research projects for coral recovery, conduct experimental coral
propagation, install stream buoys to prevent coral damage caused by anchoring, and have divers pickup trash in the ocean
・2015: The "365 Days of Picking Up Marine Debris" activity conducted by the private organization"Proud Furusato Network" won the "YOUNG JAPAN ACTION Mao Asada x Sumitomo Life Insurance"
Incentive Award.
・2019: Commendation for the "Pick-up Box" initiative at the "Zero Marine Debris Award" organizedby the Ministry of the Environment and the Nippon Foundation
・2019: “Unjami”, a group of volunteers picking up Marine Debris , Kagoshima Prefecture's "CleanTourism Area Creation Award."
Additional references
https://youtu.be/OO503CPEr6E