On October 13, the Tokyo Firefly Club held the 2003 Firefly Summit in cooperation with a local group called the Satogawa Firefly Society in Akishima City, a suburb of Tokyo, aiming to protect fireflies in Tokyo.

The Tama River and the Tamagawa-josui canal run through Akishima City, located near the center of the Tokyo metropolitan area, and the city is blessed with abundant groundwater and spring water. The Firefly Summit was started with a keynote speech on "what fireflies taught us," followed by a lecture on "deciphering the language of insects." There was also a presentation on activities of the Akishima Waterfront Fun School Project, which is jointly implemented by citizens, the city government and Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, to protect and utilize the Tama River.

Presentations were also given about a biotope (meaning "the place that creatures inhabit" in German) built in the school and classroom activities at the city-run Seirin Elementary School, which served as the venue for the summit, and the relations with the local community. Students who had observed firefly larvae since April made a presentation on their observations. They made an appeal to prevent littering of the waterfront, hoping to secure a good habitat for fireflies.

The Tokyo Firefly Club was established in 1991 with the aim of protecting fireflies and learning about Tokyo's natural environment.




Posted: 2004/01/24 08:28:23 PM
Japanese version

TAG Ecosystem , Food/Water , Government , Local government , NGO/Citizen , Other