## Photo 3-6-3 Rare Endemic Species in the Ogasawara Islands

Boninosuccinea Ogasawarae

Photos: Ministry of the Environment

Pteropus Pselaphon

are treated, and the cats are taught to live with humans, eventually being placed with new owners.

Various stakeholders assisted in the development and introduction of this project to capture feral cats. On Hahajima, a fence was constructed to keep feral cats out, and any feral cats found within the area enclosed by this fence were captured. As a result, in 2007 the Wedge-Tailed Shearwater population was confirmed to be growing again at Minamizaki.

In addition to Minamizaki, the Tohei area on Chichi-jima is a habitat for the Ogasawara Wood Pigeon, which is a species unique to the Ogasawara Islands and which has a population of less than forty. A protective fence was built in order to protect these birds from feral cats, and government representatives and local volunteers went about capturing any feral cats found within the fenced area.

These initiatives started with the discovery by local NPOs of feral cats preying on seabirds; from there, they shared this information with local residents and other stakeholders who then banded together to take action. The result has been the continued protection of the Ogasawara Islands' wild birds and a better life for the feral cats.

Another example of an initiative that incorporates the local community is the green anole initiative.

The green anole is not native to the Ogasawara Islands: it is a foreign species, which is now found throughout Haha-jima and Chichi-jima (Figure 3-4-7). The green anole eats insects, including the Celastrina ogasawaraensis species of butterfly and other rare species unique to the Ogasawara Islands, and this has had a significant impact on the ecosystem. Celastrina ogasawaraensis butterflies were once common across Chichi-jima and Haha-jima, but because of the green anole's predation, they are now only found in one part of Haha-jima. The seriousness of this situation motivated residents of Haha-jima concerned about the Celastrina ogasawaraensis butterfly to form a non-governmental group in 2005, which began working to protect this butterfly species from the effects of the green anole.

Photo 3-6-4 A Green Anole Captured by Anole Trap

Photo : Ministry of the Environment

In 2006, the national government put in place a protective fence to keep the green anole out of the Shin-yuhigaoka area of Haha-jima, where various rare insect species are found. Within the fenced-off area, local volunteers set about exterminating the green anoles as well as helping to cultivate vegetation that the Celastrina ogasawaraensis butterfly eats. The result has been a confirmed increase in this species' population.

In addition, since March 2010, under an agreement concluded with the specified non-profit corporation the Ogasawara Islands Forest Ecosystem Protection Project, activities to conserve indigenous plants and animals such as the Japanese wood pigeon and restore the native forest ecosystem have been ongoing. These activities include exterminating non-native plants and planting native plants, and examining native plants and animals.

Furthermore, to protect the precious forest ecosystem of the Ogasawara Islands, the extermination of non-native plants has been carried out targeting the invasive evergreen tree species Bischofia javanica and Casuarina.

Environmental protection and conservation in the Ogasawara Islands is thus a collaborative effort between the local community, the government, and researchers. This cooperative framework, which incorporates a diverse range of stakeholders, is the noteworthy product of many hours of dialog and effort. This, too, is a valuable asset, which is

on a par with the Ogasawara Islands' natural diversity as something that can be a source of pride for the people of the Ogasawara Islands.

During the review to determine if the Ogasawara Islands should be registered as a World Natural Heritage Site, the high level of participation by local residents in conservation and management, the multi-organizational collaborative nature of conservation and management, and the expansion of sea sections under recommendation review all earned praise from the global community.

At the same time, the registration came with the request

## 2 Ancestral Wisdom on life in harmony With Nature

Various factors have given Japan a tremendously rich biodiversity, such as its great length from north to south, its steep climb in elevation from the coast to the mountains, and its four distinct seasons. Moreover, in each region of Japan, our ancestors have handed down techniques and knowledge that show us how to sustainably use and benefit from this biodiversity. In addition, our ancestors show us how to live in harmony with nature and parry the awesome power of nature such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, and other natural disasters in Japan. By receiving this wisdom and knowledge, a connection with the ancestors is maintained, and profound hints are gleaned for how to realize a society in harmony with nature.

## (1) The Wisdom of Traditional Swidden Agriculture

Japan has a moderate climate with a large amount of precipitation, which makes it extremely well suited to growing vegetation. By suppressing the over-proliferation of this vegetation and controlling natural transitions, benefits from nature can be enjoyed in a sustainable fashion. For example, in the central mountainous region of Kyushu and the western mountainous region of Shikoku, controlled burning is performed to maintain the fields. This farming technique has been used since the Jomon period (about 14,000 to 300 BC), and it represents wisdom about how to live in harmony with nature. According to a farming census conducted around 1950, controlled burning was performed for roughly 10,000 hectares of fields throughout Japan; however, in the post-war era, increased timber production rapidly transformed many of these fields to forests.

Swidden agriculture is an agricultural technique that entails clearing forest, burning the cleared land, and then cultivating crops on top of it (Photo 3-6-5). In the local dialect of Shiiba Village in Miyazaki Prefecture, a field that has undergone controlled burning is known as a "yabo," the clearing of forest in order to perform burning is known as "yabokiri," and the burning of the cleared area is known as "yaboyaki." "Yaboyaki" requires a large number of people: each household provides one or more experienced people, with at least ten people being needed to perform this task as a group. The most experienced member of the group directs the others, paying close attention to the day's wind that current efforts to deal with the foreign species that threaten the native species be continued, and that tourism be carried out in a way which is not harmful to the environment.

For the future, greater cooperation among stakeholders is needed to: (1) address these issues; (2) deepen people’s understanding of the islands’ natural richness and beauty so that they will endeavor to pass it on to the next generation in even better condition than they found it; and (3) feel pride in the beautiful bounty of nature surrounding them and ensure that they live in harmony with it.

and weather. Afterwards, seed is scattered over the untilled field, and various grains, such as buckwheat and millet, are grown in rotation for three to four years. The field is then left fallow for around a decade, during which time it returns to a forested state.

Swidden agriculture has an immediate fertilizing effect on the soil, and because the sprouts and seeds of weeds on the soil's surface are burned up, weed growth is suppressed. Also, letting the field return to a young forested state encourages the growth of a bright forest of deciduous broad-leaved trees, where mountain vegetables, mushrooms, and other bountiful products of the mountainside can grow. At first glance, controlled burning of fields can appear to be environmentally destructive; however, it is a sustainable, cyclical agricultural technique that revitalizes the forest when used in a decades-long cycle. People who practice traditional field burning see how nature is repeatedly renewed each decade, and this connection with nature surely gives them an intuitive understanding of how it underpins their daily way of life.

In the same way, each region has developed its own unique knowledge and culture over time, grounded in their local environments and handed down through the generations. Rather than mass production and consumption, in order to achieve a sustainable way of life that fosters biodiversity and cultural diversity, we need to receive as well as pass on this unique knowledge and culture, which includes so much that we can learn. An example of this in action is the program Foxfire in Japan, sponsored by the Foxfire in Japan Executive Committee (which comprises representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the National Land Afforestation Promotion Organization, the National Association of Fisheries Infrastructure, the National Federation of Inland Water Fisheries Cooperatives, and the Network for Coexistence with Nature). High school students visit with afforestation experts, charcoal makers, wood artisans, fishermen, female divers, and other experts whose trade is intimately tied to nature, in order to talk with them one-on-one, record what they are told, and then compile this as a written record. The reason for having these high school students—who represent the next generation—listen to and write down