Creating a Homeland for Storks: Species Protection Activities in Hyogo

Efforts are being made around the world to protect endangered species and restore them to the wild. Such projects are usually located in areas remote from human habitation, but an ongoing project in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, is novel in that it is trying to restore an entire rural region where people and storks once coexisted to this former state.

"In an environment where storks can thrive, humans can also feel safe and secure and build a truly fulfilling, sustainable society." This is the vision of the stork project members, who have taken a fresh look at the lost environment, including both natural and artificial. The project has so far succeeded in promoting sustainable agriculture, restoring rice paddies and rivers, and maintaining village forests. Here we introduce some of the activities it has pursued over the last 50 years.

The Oriental stork (Ciconia boyciana), designated a Special Natural Monument, a type of protected species in Japan, weighs about five kilograms and has a wing span of up to two meters. These migratory birds breed in the extensive marshlands of the Far Eastern parts of Russia and China (mainly the Amur River Basin), and migrate to and from regions around the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake in China. The species is globally endangered, with the total number of individuals estimated at only about 2,000.

In the past these beautiful white birds could be seen all over Japan. In the Tajima area of northern Hyogo Prefecture, dozens of storks could formerly be seen flying over the Toyooka Basin, pecking at small fish such as loach, and raising hatchlings in nests in pine trees near human habitation.

The Maruyama River runs through the center of Toyooka City, located in the large Toyooka Basin. This area has extensive marshlands suitable for storks' foraging. There were breeding populations of these birds in Japan during the Meiji to early Showa eras (around 1900-1940); about 100 birds were said to be present at one point. However, due to environmental degradation resulting from various social changes, the number of birds declined drastically after the Second World War.

The main reason for this decline was habitat destruction or modification. During the war, tall pine trees in which storks could nest were cut down en masse. Rebuilding rice paddies resulted in larger differences between the paddy fields and surrounding waterways, and this had the effect of eliminating fish species on which storks prey. Furthermore, apparently due to the widespread use of highly toxic and persistent pesticides such as Folidol (parathion), Malathon (malathion) and BHC (benzene hexachloride)-based chemicals, the storks' reproductive ability was severely impaired.

Concerned to protect these birds, Dr. Yoshimaro Yamashina, the founder of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, advised Masaru Sakamoto, then-governor of Hyogo Prefecture, to protect this endangered species. In 1955 the governor responded by declaring the species protected, and the Conservation Association for Storks was established in collaboration with Toyooka City and the private sector. With the leadership and determination of the public sector and the cooperation of the private sector, much effort has been expended to increase the number of birds by artificial incubation in captivity. In 1956 the Oriental stork was nationally designated a Special Natural Monument.

In 1985 the Association received six young birds from Khabarovsk, Russia, and in 1989 four chicks were successfully hatched for the first time in captivity. In 1999 the Hyogo Prefectural Homeland for the Oriental White Stork facility was established in Toyooka City, and the number of storks raised there increased steadily. Finally in 2002, the number exceeded 100, the same number once recorded as the number of wild storks in the Toyooka Basin.

A new program was established in March 2003 to release these hand-raised storks to the wild. This is the great challenge to fulfillment of an ambitious vision aimed at creating a local community where nature and humans can coexist in harmony.

The initial spirit of the project - in which the public and private sectors work together and everyone is a participant - has prevailed to this day. The task of restoring stork populations to the wild requires not only the Homeland's specialists and the government, but also all residents of the region. This necessitates a mechanism to recruit participants from various sectors.

A liaison council has been formed to help create habitat for re-introduced storks. The council consists of 24 organizations including: (1) various local resident groups such as nature conservation non-profit organizations and the chief councils of municipal wards; (2) industry associations such as the chamber of commerce; (3) agricultural cooperatives, farmers' groups, and fisheries cooperatives; (4) academics in the fields of animal ecology, organic farming and river engineering; and (5) the national, prefectural and city governments. Liason council members discuss relevant matters and cooperate with each other to implement various initiatives to restore the natural environment by cleaning up the countryside and rivers, to help hand-raised storks adapt to the wild, and to develop educational activities.

A notable feature of the council is that only discussions are held; no decisions are actually made by the council itself. Each sector reports its activities and future plans in order to invite discussions, which often inspire new activities and cooperative efforts.

In 2001 an area formerly occupied by rice paddies in front of the Hyogo Prefectural Homeland for the Oriental White Stork facility was transformed into a biotope where species such as dragonfly larva, frogs, loach and aquatic insects can thrive. Subsequently waterbirds such as herons and Spot-billed ducks have been repeatedly observed. In fiscal 2003 this initiative turned into a project to develop, in cooperation with local farmers, rice paddies that also function as stork feeding grounds. These rice paddy biotopes are also used to hold environmental workshops for local residents.

The local governments are taking the initiative in developing fish ladders between rice paddies and surrounding waterways, and managing things like footpaths and pine groves in village forests. In addition, the whole region is trying to improve the environment for released storks by restoring natural areas in the Maruyama River watershed and growing pine trees where storks can nest.

When the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan secures a certain amount of riverbed area for flood control, workers excavate them so that they are wide and shallow, in order to form wetlands as feeding grounds for storks and herons. The fisheries cooperative of the Maruyama River is working to rid the river of alien carnivorous bass in order to conserve sweetfish and other native fish species, securing food for storks. Each group is thus taking solid action to restore the environment for storks as a part of its regular operations.

Another characteristic of this project is the vision and structural flexibility of the public sector. The Hyogo prefectural government drew up a visionary plan "Aiming to Create a Homeland Where Storks Soar," and has appointed a counselor in charge of this matter. The restoration of a wild stork population is recognized as an important prefectural project, and thus a coherent system is in place, from policy making to budget appropriations.

Free from the traditional organizational structure, the prefectural government can prioritize what they should and want to do. It has vested the department that governs the sub-region of Tajima with the authority to make a variety of decisions for the project and, when necessary, to promote cross-sectoral activities. In this way, various programs are conducted in an integrated manner, including the development of fish ladders to and from rice paddies under the land improvement office and the reduction of agricultural chemicals under the agriculture and forestry office.

Farmland plays an important role in returning storks to the wild. Farmers have modified their farming methods under a slogan of "coexistence of birds and agriculture." In growing rice, they implement organic farming methods, such as flooding their rice paddies in winter to secure habitat for storks and other creatures all year round and breeding ducks during the growing season to eliminate the need for herbicides and pesticides, as well as scattering pellets made of rice bran as food.

Farming with organic fertilizers and/or fewer agrichemicals is also being promoted by the introduction of safe agricultural product brands. Now, products labeled under the "Dance of White Storks" brand trademarked by Toyooka City, a line of low-chemical products that have passed the city's original certification system, are sold in many local stores, attracting consumer attention. A consensus is being built that agricultural practices designed to keep land safe for storks not only protect the birds, but also provide safe food for people.

On September 24, 2005, when five birds were released, the first step was taken towards the re-introduction of storks to the wild. The Hyogo Prefectural Homeland for the Oriental White Stork facility updates the status of the released birds on its website almost every day and reports how they are doing all around the region. The stork, since ancient times beloved as a lucky bird that brings happiness, or even delivers babies, is now considered a kind of patron spirit that inspires people in Toyooka City and the surrounding region to think about the environment, linking their hearts and watching over their activities.

(References)
Hyogo Prefectural Homeland for the Oriental White Stork
http://www.stork.u-hyogo.ac.jp/ (Japanese Only)

Related JFS article (with a photo) is here

(Staff writer Kazuko Futakuchi)

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