■Implementation of the On-Site Study Meeting of the Kushiro International Wetland Centre (KIWC) Technical Committee

The on-site study meeting concerning the "Restoration and Rehabilitation of Wetlands," which is the research theme for FYs 2001 to 2003, was held on August 22, 2003, with the participation of members of the KIWC Technical Committee and people from KIWC member organizations. Participants visited the site of the Red-crowned Crane Habitat (reed fields) Restoration Project, which is being carried out at Kushiro Wetland by the Wild Bird Society of Japan's Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary. There they inspected the site and received explanations from Mr. Osamu Harada, the Sanctuary's Chief Ranger. They also inspected former spawning beds of Japanese Huchen (Sakhalin Taimen) in small streams running through the wetland while listening to an explanation about the present condition of Japanese Huchen habitat in Kushiro Wetland from Dr. Tsutomu Hariu, Deputy Director of the Kushiro City Museum. Discussions were held on-site about requirements for securing habitat for Red-Crowned Cranes, Japanese Huchen and other endangered species by rehabilitating and restoring wetlands and challenges to be addressed in the future.

■Mini Lecture "Community Building in Rome, Italy, Focusing on Rivers"

A lecture entitled "Community Building in Rome, Italy, Focusing on Rivers  was given at the Kushiro City Kohryu Plaza "Saiwai" on Tuesday, September 16, 2003. The City of Kushiro and KIWC co-hosted the lecture under the auspices of the Foundation of River & Watershed Environment Management as part of a project aimed at commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Ramsar Conference in Kushiro.
Prof. Paola E. Falini at the University of Rome's Faculty of Architecture served as the lecturer and Dr. Tatsuichi Tsujii, Chairman of the KIWC Technical Committee and President of the Hokkaido Environment Foundation, served as the coordinator. During the lecture, the outline of the Tiber River in Italy, which has been a part of people's daily lives since the ancient Roman times, and river plans currently under way were explained among other topics. In Rome, which is located in the Tiber River basin, rivers have played a wide variety of roles in city planning, such as transportation, tourism & water resources and corridors connecting green tracts, thus contributing to community building as important regional resources. With the example of Rome as a reference, approximately 70 participants considered how the Kushiro River should function in the development of Kushiro.

■JICA Training Course "Management of Eco-tourism and Sustainable Use of Natural Parks"

From September 16 to October 25, 2003, a JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) group training course on the "Management of Eco-tourism and Sustainable Use of Natural Parks," was held with the JICA Hokkaido International Centre (Obihiro) as the administrative institution and the Kushiro International Wetland Centre (KIWC) as the hosting institution. In the current fiscal year, the second group training course was held, in which eight people participated from seven countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Kyrgyz, Lithuania, Nepal and Slovakia). The participants were all middle-ranking administrative professional engineers involved in environmental conservation at national parks in their countries. During the program that was aimed at providing useful information with which participants could introduce and utilize eco-tourism in their own countries, there were numerous activities for the participants to take part in, including presentations of eco-tour case-study examples in Japan, with a focus on experimental training; lectures on natural park systems and concepts of eco-tourism; and inspections of Hokkaido's environmental education programs. Aiming to allow the participants to learn not only about eco-tours featuring natural resources, but also those focused on cultural heritages, the course included a visit to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan.
The 2003 Tokachi-Oki Earthquake occurred on September 26, during the training period. Kushiro, where the participants were staying, experienced a jolt that reached an intensity of 5 on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7. Although participants who had never before experienced an earthquake appeared shocked at the time, the objectives of the training course were achieved according to schedule.

■Implementation of the River Environment Observation Program

An observation program aimed at learning more about the water quality and environment of the Kushiro River was held on Saturday, October 18, 2003 under the joint auspices of the Kushiro- Shitsugen Narional Park Liaison Association, subsidized by the Foundation of River & Watershed Environment Management's River Environment Fund. This observation program was planned for little rangers belonging to the Association and the JICA Eco-tourism training participants who were staying in Kushiro. There were approximately 30 participants.
The participants visited Lake Kussharo, the source of the Kushiro River, and took rafts from the upper reaches of the Kushiro River. They observed the riverhead area that is so high in water transparency that participants could see spawning white-spotted char while aboard the rafts. They then conducted underwater observations using handmade boxes with glass windows at Lake Toro. From Lake Toro, they experienced tours in canoes in the midstream of the Kushiro River, enabling them to closely observe White-tailed Sea Eagles, Common Kingfishers and many other species of wildlife. Through this observation tour, participants learned about the rich nature of the Kushiro River, water conditions and differences in riverside environments depending on the catchment area.

■Holding of the National Crane Workshop and Citizens' Forum "Future of Cranes"

The "Northeast Asian Crane Site Network's National Workshop" was held from November 14 to 16, 2003, with the participation of approximately 30 people involved in the protection of the cranes. The workshop was organized by the Wild Bird Society of Japan and co-hosted by KIWC. At the venue, the Kushiro City Tourism and International Relations Center, the present conditions of crane breeding and overwintering in Japan were reported, congestion, infectious diseases and other problems were introduced and information and opinions were rigorously exchanged toward the resolution of these problems confronting crane habitats.
On November 16, the final day of the workshop, a forum for the general public entitled "The Future of Cranes" was held as part of the project aimed at commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Ramsar Conference in Kushiro. Approximately 70 people participated in the forum, at which experts delivered speeches and discussions were held with local people. Topics included the current situation of crane habitats, present protection activities and the importance of collaboration for crane conservation via the "Network of Crane Habitats" which includes northeast Asian countries.