■Participation in the 8th Conferenceof the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention:

The 8th Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention was held in Valencia, Spain, on November 18-26, 2002. Government delegates and representatives from NGOs involved in wetland conservation gathered to conduct situation reports and discuss the action plan for the promotion of wetland conservation in the world.
KIWC staff members also participated in the conference as observers, and introduced our activities in side events and at our stand. At our stand, we prepared copies of the English summaries of the KIWC Technical Committee's latest report "Environmental Education regarding Wetlands in Eastern Hokkaido" as one of materials to distribute in order to introduce our activities. Though there were a large amount of copies, they were all taken away in a flash, and it demonstrated participants' high interest in environmental education. We were pleased to find several past participants of the JICA training course and UNITAR/KIWC workshops who were playing important roles in the conference as government delegates.

■Ecotour in Winter

"Ecotour in winter" for residents in the Kushiro region was held on January 18, 2003. Sixteen participants enjoyed watching a herd of Yezo deer from the window of the SL train "Fuyunoshitsugen-go", which runs only in winter. They also visited Lake Toro in the Kushiro Wetlands to look for wildlife footprints in the snow and to observe the ice surface of the lake. Lake Toro, at that time of the year, was covered with thick ice which had frozen little by little since late autumn. Striped patterns and air bubble shapes on the surface of the quarried ice attracted the interest of both adults and children.
At the Lake Toro Eco-Museum Center in the lakeside, each participant made a nature craft "Tancho Mobile" under the guidance of the Center's staff. Although it was severely cold, the charms of discovering the winter wetlands left the participants shouting for joy.

■International Forum on "Rehabilitation of Wetland Ecosystems"

As one of the projects for the 10th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention in Kushiro, an international forum regarding wetland rehabilitation projects was held at the Kushiro Tourism and International Relations Center on February 6, 2003, co-hosted by Ramsar Center.
Various efforts to restore nature in wetlands were introduced by specialists from Nepal, Korea and Kushiro, who were involved in wetland rehabilitation projects, including Ms. Peggy Svoboda, who is working with projects for restoring the Kooragang Wetlands in Australia, which is sister wetlands of the Ramsar sites in the Kushiro region. They exchanged views on problems to be solved in designated wetlands under the Ramsar Convention as the 21st century started. In spite of it being a weeknight, many people participated in the forum from in and out of Kushiro City.
The program for the forum was as follows:

Keynote Address
Ms. Peggy Svoboda
Project Coordinator
Kooragang Wetland Rehabilitation Project
"Kooragang Wetland Rehabilitaion Project" 　

Panel Discussion (Coordinator: Dr. Tatsuichi Tsujii, President of Hokkaido
Environment Foundation, Chair of KIWC Technical Com.)

Dr. Bishunu Bhandari
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan
"Environmental Restoration Project in Lumbini, Nepal, the Birthplace of Lord Buddha" 　

Dr. Gea-Jae Joo
Professor
Pusan National University
"Conservation Project of the Estuarine Wetlands in the Nakdong River, Korea"　

Mr. Toshio Torii
East Hokkaido Regional Office for Nature Conservation
Ministry of the Environment
"Rehabilitation Project in Kushiro Wetland"　

Mr. Takayasu Fujita
Kushiro Development and Construction Department
Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
"Rehabilitation Project in the Kushiro River Basin"　

■UNITAR/KIWC International Environmental Law Training Workshop

"Training Workshop for the Asia-Pacific Region on the Implementation of Multilateral Agreements related to Biological Diversity" was held March 15-21, 2003, and was co-hosted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). In this workshop, which was the fourth meeting, we took up conservation of marine biodiversity as a theme, and there were 40 participants from 26 countries mainly composed of administrative officers from developing countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.
In this workshop, trainees learned about the knowledge and technology necessary to implement multilateral agreements including the Biological Diversity Agreement. The training consisted of various programs, such as an introduction of examples through a study tour, lectures, and practical training. On the last day of the workshop, their achievements were summarized in the "Teigen (Proposal)".
During the training, with the whole-hearted support from the Kushiro City Cultural Organization Liaison Association (instruction) and the Kushiro Volunteer International Exchange Association (interpretation), examples of Japanese culture such as tea ceremony, calligraphy, and flower arrangement were introduced, and the trainees could have an opportunity to experience them. They wrote their names with a brush and had their photos taken with their instructors in kimono enjoying easy access to Japanese traditional culture. At the same time, home visits and cultural exchange gatherings were carried out, and the participants promoted friendly relations in various ways with the people in the Kushiro region. The warm-heartedness of the Kushiro people took the participants' minds off the coldness of winter and their hearty hospitality was highly valued along with the quality of the training program in the questionnaire after the workshop. All the participants were greatly interested in and admired that our projects were carried out with the whole-hearted cooperation of the administration, related organizations, NGOs and citizens (volunteers) in regard to every activity including the conservation system and other systems of Kushiro Wetlands which were introduced in the study tour, as well as the exchange program mentioned above.

As part of JICA training programs, a participant from Lithuania participated in the workshop as an observer. This JICA training course, "Training of Establishment of Measures for Wise Use of Natural Parks Aiming for Meeting EU Standards " was carried out in response to Lithuania becoming the newest targeted country in the JICA training course "Management/Administration and Wise Use of Natural Parks (Eco-Tour)", which was newly established as a group training course in 2002.
After the workshop, Ms. Egle Grineviciene, a participant, visited natural parks in the eastern Hokkaido (Daisetsuzan National Park, Kushiro Shitsugen National Park, Notsuke-Furen Prefectural Park, and Akkeshi Prefectural Park), and also visited related organizations/facilities and local groups concerned with designated wetlands under the Ramsar Convention (Kiritappu Shitsugen, etc.). She learned about management systems and future issues on ecotourism and environmental education related to each local condition. In addition, she participated in some ecotour programs such as nature hikes, horseback hikes, and environmental education programs, etc.), and experienced the services by putting herself in the position of a customer.
In Lithuania, though it is much colder in winter than Hokkaido, nature preservation activities will be developed further in the future through ecotours and environmental education. We hope that the result of the training programs will be effectively used in Lithuania.

Japanese culture