Learn the Miyawaki Method Tree Planting Festival〜Create a 9,000-year-lasting forest at Meguri no Mori!〜

　G20 Global Land Initiative Related Events

On Sunday, October 13, at Shonan International Village Meguri-no-Mori, “Let's learn the Miyawaki method at the tree-planting ceremony! 〜Let's create a forest that will last for 9,000 years in Meguri-no-Mori! 〜was held at Shonan Kokusai-mura Meguri-no-Mori.

　The rainy and stormy weather that had been continuing until just before the event was overshadowed by the fine weather that had been continuing since the preparatory stage. In fact, the weather was too hot for October, and the tree-planting festival was held with the realization of global warming.

　Fifty-five members of the G20 Global Land Initiative delegation came to Japan from 27 countries. The total of 203 people planted 500 trees of 34 types of potential natural vegetation derived from vegetation surveys, crossing borders and race for the purpose of forest creation.

　At the opening ceremony, Mr. Nakatani, Director General of Kanagawa Prefectural Policy Bureau, announced that the Shonan International Village Meguri-no-Mori forest was approved on September 27 as a “30 by 30” site promoted by the Ministry of the Environment and an “OECM” nature symbiosis site that contributes to biodiversity conservation in areas other than national protected areas.

　The following October, a tree-planting festival was held in connection with the G20 Global Land Initiative (G20 section on the global environment) at the Meguri-no-Mori forest in Shonan International Village, the birthplace of the Miyawaki method and a unique Japanese brand of reforestation methods, which was shared locally with people in other countries.

　The forests we regenerate are the “original forests of the land” that have been lost. By regenerating forests that have inherited the original genes of the land and have a unique regional character, we can restore the forest's original functions of disaster prevention, wind protection, dust protection, waterproofing, and temperature reduction, and protect the genes of many living creatures.

　The forests that are in their natural state have the ability to mitigate global warming, which is still in progress at this time, and are the ultimate biodiversity fields that can survive semi-permanently. An international symposium was held on the 11th to discuss how to pass on such forest creation know-how to the children of the next generation.

　Silwa has invested 1.5 million yen to coordinate the tree-planting event. We would like to thank our sponsors for their support. We would also like to express our gratitude to all of the cooperating organizations and people involved, as well as to the members of Silwa. We would like to report on the tree-planting festival in the following blog.

　Please continue to support our mission for the survival of the biological community. Thank you very much.

Non-Profit Organization Silwa

Representative Director Toshiko Kawashita

Twenty tree-planting leaders gathered at 8:15 am.

They will learn by practice for one hour before the opening ceremony and serve as guides for the public,

You will also manage and supervise the accuracy of the tree planting work.

Distinguished Guests

Dr. Muralee Thummarukudy Director, Secretary General, G20 Global Environment Section

Director, G20 Global Initiative on LandUnited Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

Mr. Tomoki Nakatani, Director General, Kanagawa Prefecture Policy Bureau

Mr. Shin Machida, Director of Policy and Finance Department, Hayama Town

Dr. Kazue Fujiwara, Professor Emeritus, Yokohama National University

Mr. Yoshihiro Natori, Chairman, Meguri no Mori Zukuri Promotion Council

The opening ceremony finally started at 10:15!

　Dr. Muralee, Secretary General of the G20 Global Environment Section, thanked us for this valuable opportunity and encounter.

　Dr. Natori, Chairman of Meguri no Mori Zukuri Promotion Council, encouraged us to contribute to the global goal “Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework” by making this event as influential as possible.

The opening declaration was made by the participants, the leaders of the next generation!

Learn the Miyawaki Method Tree Planting Festival

〜Create a 9,000-year-lasting forest at Meguri no Mori!〜

The children, transcending national borders and race, chanted in unison ❣

After the opening ceremony,

training on tree-planting methods began with

Dr. Kazue Fujiwara, Professor Emeritus of Yokohama National University (Science)!

We learned that we need to plant trees with a sense of urgency, as even the slightest mistake is unforgivable.

The natural world has no borders!　Tree planting scene of people participating in international exchange through the Miyawaki Method

Everyone in the world united as one! Walla Bucket Relay

　Although this tree-planting festival was a meaningful and international event, the real stars of the show are the saplings that were planted. From now on, the fight for their lives will begin in order to protect the places where they were planted.

　Plants, whose genes have been passed down for 3.6 billion years, have an overwhelming toughness that is different from that of humans, whose genes are only about 5 million years old, and have the power to change the “environment.

　The history and fundamental power of plants, which led the earth, once filled with toxic gases, to become a beautiful blue planet, supplied oxygen that became the raw material for the ozone layer, and even created a natural barrier, will prove to be the “world's best producer” beyond human knowledge when it becomes the culmination of a forest.

　When we entrust the regeneration of native forests to saplings, the best we can do is to mulch them with straw and organic matter (plant remains).