Kyoto University Exploring Forest-Human-Sea Linkages

Japan's Kyoto University has created a new area of study to help students understand the linkages between forest biospheres, human ecosystems and marine biology. The university's Field Science Education and Research Center, established in April 2003, offers students in all faculties lectures on topics such as Connected Rings of Forest-Human-Marine Habitats and Integrated Marine and Terrestrial Management.

The university invited Shigeatsu Hatakeyama, an oyster farmer from Miyagi Prefecture, to be a guest professor of Field Studies and Practical Learning in March 2005. Mr. Hatakeyama started a tree-planting program called "The Forest is the Sweetheart of the Sea," with other fishermen in 1989. Under his guidance, students learned through hands-on experience about the relationships between the forest and the sea by participating in a variety of field trips to oyster farms, the Kesennuma Bay area, including the Okawa River, and Mt. Murone where tree planting continues.

The university also invited C.W. Nicol, a novelist, in 2005 to be a guest professor of Field Studies and Practical Learning, and also plans to hold a small-group seminar at his Afan Woodland at the foot of Mt. Kurohime in Nagano Prefecture during the 2006 academic year. Another workshop is scheduled to be held at the Niyodo River in Kochi Prefecture in cooperation with local communities.

The director of the Center, Prof. Masaru Tanaka, says, "The natural environment of Japan consists of three ecosystems--forests, coastal seas and human habitats, all of which are inseparably interconnected." He continues, "Traditionally, these ecosystems have been studied separately, but human activities have overwhelming influences over the interrelations between the ecosystems. Therefore, it is important to elucidate the coexisting interactions between the natural ecosystems and human beings."

http://www.fserc.kais.kyoto-u.ac.jp/main/FSERC/index_e.html

Posted: 2006/03/24 04:54:52 PM
Japanese version