LINE 123 Protection of Endangered Species "Japanese Rosy Bitterling" and Restoration of Satoyama (Village Forests)

As part of the biodiversity conservation activities, Nara Business Unit has been providing support since 2011 to the protection of Japanese rosy bitterling, an endangered species, as well as the restoration of satoyama (village forests) around the pond where the fish inhabits. These activities are conducted by the Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University in the school campus.

A total of about 35 employees and family members of NTT West Nara Group, NTT West Head Office and other group companies took part in this activity, during which they engaged in rice planting and crawfishing. As with the previous activity, plants around the pond were also trimmed.

The event kicked off with a briefing on the objectives of the activity by the associate professor of Environmental Management Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University. This was followed by a tour to the mini satoyama aquarium run by the students.
Although the aquarium was small in scale, the eyes of the participating children were fixated on the fish tanks, and they got really excited when they touched the turtles.
The children would listen earnestly and quietly when the professor started to explain about the different types of fish in the aquarium.

After touring the aquarium, the participants were divided into two groups for planting rice and trimming plants respectively.
Rice planting was carried out mainly by the participating children with guidance and support from the university students. The field was divided using ropes for young rice plants to be planted at an equal distance of 30cm away from one another.Children who stepped into a rice field for the first time with their bare feet did so very cautiously at first, perhaps because of the feel of the mud. However, after getting used to it, they began to enjoy the planting activity despite getting muddy.
It was a slightly challenging task with the rice plants forming crooked lines instead of straight ones while some were tipping sideways as they were not planted deep enough. Nonetheless, the plants will still grow without problem according to the professor.

Next, the children challenged crawfishing using a kite string with dried squid tied to it. Unfortunately, no crawfish was caught in the end, although we heard that some students had a good catch just a few days ago.
So, the children gave up crawfishing and enjoyed catching tadpoles and water striders with a net and holding them in their hands.

We believe that this activity has offered a valuable experience to children who rarely have the opportunity to interact with nature in their everyday life.

This activity was the second round of the series.
The main activities that are scheduled in future include scarecrow making in September, rice harvesting in October and water draining in December.

NTT West Nara Business Unit will continue to engage in the "Protection of Endangered Species Japanese Rosy Bitterling and Restoration of Satoyama (Village Forests)" activity in future, and we look forward to the participation of many employees and their family.

Participating companies

NTT West Nara Branch, Planning and General Affairs Department (Secretariat: NTT Business Associe West Kansai Branch, Nara Office, General Affairs IC)
NTT West Head Office, Technology Innovation Department
NTT West Head Office, Personnel Department
NTT West Head Office, Interconnection Promotion Department
NTT Business Solutions Kansai Branch (Osaka 1st Corporate Business Department; Nara Corporate Business Department)
NTT Fieldtechno Kansai Branch (Equipment Department; Nara Office)
NTT Business Associe West Kansai Branch (Planning Department; Nara Office)

Venue

Inside the premises of Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University (Nara City, Nakamachi 3327-204)

No. of participants

35