*Fuyumizu-tambo is a method of flooding rice paddies in winter.

Recovering landscapes where wild geese fly

Since its establishment in 1970, the Japanese Association for Wild Geese Protection (JAWGP) has conducted activities to protect and conserve habitats for wild geese. JAWGP has conducted bird banding research in collaboration with research scientists from Russia, the United States, South Korea, China, and Mongolia, revealing the migratory flyway and habitats of wild geese.

Also in Japan, JAWGP continues to research existing habitats, and to implement activities toward conservation and enlightenment and to develop proposals for making best use of "The Inventory of Wild Geese Habitat in Japan" including compiling research results.

In cooperation with concerned parties in Japan, Russia and the United States, JAWGP has made contributions to the protection of endangered wild geese over 30 years, taking particular note of the Aleutian Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii leucopareia which no longer migrates as a bird flock in Asia. As a result of these activities, the bird numbers increased, and now the population has recovered to more than 200 in number.

"Fuyumizu-tambo" toward the coexistence of wild geese and humans

In the kanji character for wild geese "雁," humans (イ) and birds (隹) live together under a roof (厂).

In order to realize the relationship shown in "雁," the JAWGP supports flooding rice paddies in winter and restoring the habitats and migratory flyways of wild geese. At the same time, JAWGP is actively involved in activities toward the coexistence of wild geese and rice paddy agriculture. "Fuyumizu-tambo" is the core of their activities.

Masayuki Kurechi, President of the JAWGP, had an opportunity to visit Lake Albufera on the occasion of Ramsar COP8, the Convention on Wetlands held in Valencia, Spain in 2002. Valencia is well known as the paella's birthplace, and the vast rice paddies are spread out over large areas.

Kurechi was surprised to see all the rice paddies were filled with water, although it was after harvesting. In Valencia, farmers begin flooding the rice paddies each year on November 1st. This farm work called "Perelona" has been conducted in Valencia since 200 years ago.

In Japan at that time, this farm work was called "tōki-tansui-suiden (winter flooding for rice paddies)" and it was still not common although the JAWGP and others started urging farmers to flood rice paddies in winter.

The world's first realization of a listed wetland under the Ramsar Convention focusing on rice paddies

As with "Perelona," are there any other beautiful and well sounding Japanese words for winter flooded rice paddies? The word "fuyumizu-tambo" was born, based on this idea.

In "Aizu Nousho," an agricultural manual published in the Edo Period (1684), we can find a description of the farming method called "tahuyumizu" in which rice paddies are flooded in winter in order to fertilize the soil. This method was developed as an effort for the coexistence of agriculture and living things, and reborn as "fuyumizu-tambo." At that time, it was common to drain the rice paddies during winter and most rice paddies in Japan went dry. The "Fuyumizu-tambo" method was totally the opposite.

Over the last hundred years, over 60% of wetlands in Japan disappeared and lakes and marshes which wild geese could use decreased accordingly. The functions of rice paddies as wetlands after flooding in winter are to provide feeding places and habitats for geese, and to restore biodiversity. Kurechi realized the necessity of "fuyumizu-tambo" and started its dissemination, aiming at the coexistence of wild geese and rice paddy agriculture.

In 2005, he made significant contributions in order to list "Kabukurinuma and its surrounding rice paddies" as a Ramsar site focusing on rice paddies, a world first.

In 2008, NGOs and the governments of Japan and South Korea jointly proposed the Resolution X.31 "Enhancing Biodiversity in Rice Paddies as Wetland Systems" at Ramsar COP10. Kurechi strongly supported a series of activities toward the adoption of this proposal and made great contributions for its realization.

The farmers around Kabukurinuma have organized "Fuyumizu-tambo Productive Cooperation" and also economically benefit from the wetlands by jointly producing and selling high-value-added "fuyumizu-tambo-mai" (fuyumizu-tambo branded rice).

"Fuyumizu-tambo" spread throughout Japan

A lot of farmers and concerned parties, citizen groups and environmental NPOs have come to have an interest in "fuyumizu-tambo" as a farming method utilizing biodiversity in flooded rice paddies, and fuyumizu-tambo has now become a popular method throughout Japan.

JAWGP supported the related decision on "Biodiversity in Rice Paddies" from the planning phase. This was proposed by the Japanese government and adopted at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. In addition, JAWGP appealed the necessity of the decision "The United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (65/161)" at the preparatory meeting which was held prior to CBD COP10 Nagoya. Influenced by these activities, follower movements have become more active. As such, JAWGP has realized considerable achievements as an opinion leader among Japanese citizen groups.

JAWGP's activities were highly regarded, and in 2011 JAWGP received the second Japan Awards for Biodiversity organized by the AEON Environmental Foundation.

Wild geese have been popular among people in Japan from ancient times, but now they can only be seen in limited areas. In order that we can see wild geese flying in the sky all over Japan, JAWGP will make further efforts for the protection of wild geese and the conservation and restoration of rich wetlands as habitats for wild geese.

DATA

Name of the Organization:

Japanese Association for Wild Geese Protection

President:

Masayuki Kurechi

Year of the Establishment:

1970

Address:

Kawaminami Minamimachi 16, Wakayanagi, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture 989-5502, Japan

URL:

http://www.kt.rim.or.jp/~hira/jawgp/jawgp/

Record of awards

●Ornithological Society of Japan Bird Study Awards (1981)
●Japanese Society for Preservation of Birds, The President's Award (1994)
●The Environmental Minister's Citation, Person of Natural Environmental Merit, Green Day (Environmental Conservation Activities Field) (2001)
●Global 100 Eco-Tech Awards (organized by The Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition and Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.) (2005)
●The Japan Awards for Biodiversity, Grand Prix (2011)

(Original Japanese text was written by Yuki Kuwabara)