NEWS
"Let's Start to Create Forests" Event Held
Update: September 27, 2024
On Saturday, September 21, the event "Let's Start to Create Forests" was held as part of the Coppice Forest Restoration Project that was launched this year.
This event was the second in a series of five events aimed at training supporters, including students and faculty, to work together on the Coppice Forest Restoration Project. More than ten students, faculty members, and external participants took part.
In the first half of the event, a member of staff from NPO birth, a non-profit organization that is helping to promote the Coppice Forest Restoration Project, gave a lecture on the natural history of the ICU campus and the issues it currently faces. After that, the participants walked around the campus and observed the flora and fauna. Among the students' comments were: "I was surprised to learn that the woodland at ICU has such a big impact on the local environment"; "I guess I must always have been hearing birdsong, but this is the first time I really noticed it"; and "I'd never realized before how many trees had died from things like oak wilt."
In the second half, a discussion on the future of the campus woodland, participants freely exchanged opinions based on what they had learned in the first half. Their comments included: "Why not create a walking trail so that people can more closely experience these attractive natural surroundings?"; "I want to make a plant map showing what kinds of plants there are"; "I would like you to hold observation events like today's on a regular basis"; "I'd like to make bamboo charcoal using thinned wood from the bamboo grove and hold a nagashi somen noodle event"; and "I'd like to make more use of the trees to hold events like craft workshops and camping and deepen exchange with local people."
In the future, we plan to hold events as part of the Coppice Forest Restoration Project to train supporters, including students and faculty members.
What is the Coppice Forest Restoration Project?
While serving as a forest for education and research where liberal arts education is conducted, the ICU campus is also a valuable forest resource that retains the appearance of the coppice forests in Musashino. It is also home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, including rare species such as the golden orchid. In recent years, however, deterioration of the woodland has progressed due to the aging of the trees and spread of oak wilt disease.
In response to this situation, we are aiming to restore young coppice forests by promoting renewal through clear-cutting, and to revive the original ecosystem of the coppice forests. We also aim to pass on to the next generation the ICU Mitaka Campus Woodland, which was certified as a nature-friendly site by the Ministry of the Environment in 2023.
