Survey Shows 60% of Japanese Rivers Are 'Clean'

The Japanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the results of a 2003 national aquatic life survey on July 16, 2004. This year's results show that 60 percent of the sampling points in rivers across Japan were judged to have "clean water," up four percentage points from 56 percent last year. "Slightly polluted" points accounted for 24 percent, down three percentage points, while the number of points that were "Polluted" (12 percent) and "Very Polluted" (3 percent) remained unchanged from last year.

About 86,000 people from 2,479 organizations participated in this assessment, conducted during FY2003 at 5,042 points in rivers. Nationwide, elementary and junior high school students accounted for 74 percent of participants and members of children's associations and citizens' groups 23 percent.

The indicator organisms used in this assessment were 30 species commonly found across Japan that are easily categorized and highly indicative of water quality. Sampling points were classified into the four water quality levels, from "clean" to "very polluted," based on the indicator species found.

This public outreach assessment program does not require any expensive equipment, so anyone can participate. It has been conducted every year since fiscal 1984 to familiarize people with local nature and raise awareness on environmental issues.

MOE has developed a pilot database now in operation into which participating organizations and individuals can directly input the assessment data and view the results on the Internet. See this database at: http://w-mizu.nies.go.jp/suisei/suisei.html (Japanese Only).




Posted: 2004/11/15 02:22:52 PM
Japanese version