LINE 223 Protection of Endangered Species "Japanese Rosy Bitterling" and Restoration of Satoyama (Village Forests)

On June 3, 2017 (Saturday), NTT West Nara Group took part in the activities held by the Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University in the school campus to protect Japanese rosy bitterling, an endangered species, as well as to restore satoyama (village forests) around the pond where the fish inhabits. This was carried out as part of the biodiversity conservation activities which NTT West Nara Group has been providing support to since 2011.

In this first round of activity for the current fiscal year, a total of about 60 participants, including employees and family members of Nara Group and other group companies as well as students of Kindai University, took part in this event where they engaged in "rice planting" and carried out "grass and plant trimming to maintain the environment around the pond where the Japanese rosy bitterling inhabits."

A briefing on the objectives of the activity was given by Associate Professor Kitagawa (Environmental Management Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University), which was followed by a tour to the mini satoyama aquarium run by the students. Although the aquarium was small in scale, the participating children stared intriguingly at the fish tanks and got really excited when they touched the turtles. They also listened attentively whenever Associate Professor Kitagawa started to explain the different types of fish.

After touring the aquarium, the participants were divided into two groups to carry out rice planting and plant trimming respectively.
Rice planting was done mainly by the participating children and university students under the guidance of the latter. They divided the field 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 were able to focus on the planting activity despite getting muddy.

Trimming of grass and plants was carried out mainly by the male participants.
According to Associate Professor Kitagawa, wild boars tend to appear in and ruin village forests when overgrown bushes and trees are left unattended, but they do not seem to step foot into areas that are well maintained.

So, in order to protect the village forest, the male participants were mainly assigned to either trim grass and plants with a height of 50cm using a sickle, or cut those that were close to 2m (kuma bamboo grass, etc.) using one of the four grass cutters.

Thanks to the hard work of the participants who were drenched in sweat under the sunny weather, the area transformed into a clean place in about two hours. Also, light was able to penetrate through and brighten up the areas around the pond, which was dark prior to the activity.
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.

Future activities that are scheduled include scarecrow making in August and rice harvesting in October.
NTT West Nara Group will continue to engage in this symbolic activity to protect the endangered species Japanese Rosy Bitterling and restore village forests to encourage the participation of more employees and their family members.

Organizing companies

NTT West Nara Branch (Equipment Department, Planning and General Affairs Department),
NTT Fieldtechno Kansai Branch (Equipment Department, Hyogo Sales Office, Nara Sales Office),
NTT Neomeit Kansai Branch (IT Business Department),
NTT Marketing Act Kansai Branch (CRM Promotion Department),
NTT Business Solutions Kansai Branch (Corporate Sales Department, Nara Corporate Sales Department),
NTT Facilities Kansai (Nara Branch),
NTT Business Associe West Kansai Branch (General Affairs Department, Osaka Office, Nara Office)

Secretariat

NTT Business Associe West Kansai Branch, Nara Office, General Affairs IC

Venues

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

No. of participants

Approximately 60