From One Acorn, a Natural Forest!

Located on the Kii Peninsula, the region is home to Kumano Kodō, a series of ancient pilgrimage routes, which has been registered as a World Heritage site. The region’s warm weather and abundant rainfall makes it a lush woodland, situated in the evergreen forest zone that extends from southwestern Japan. What we find there now, however, are mostly cultivated forests of cedar and cypress. It is because since around 1955, under the Japanese government’s reforestation policy, evergreen broad-leaved forests were cleared and replaced by cedar and cypress trees.

Natural forests are where animals find their food, but they are shrinking. In mountainous areas, deer, wild boars, monkeys, and other wild animals have come down into human settlements in search of food, causing damage to crops. Meanwhile, cedar and cypress trees in cultivated forests do not hold soil because of their shallow roots and, moreover, draw large amounts of water from the ground, adversely affecting the environment. In fact, in recent years, there have been many landslides, and river water levels have dropped significantly. And in the sea, rocky-shore denudation is observed, possibly caused by the loss of forests.

Since its founding in 1997, the Ichiigashi Association has worked to restore the rich biodiversity of the forest by planting evergreen broadleaf trees that once covered this region. We collect acorns and other tree seeds locally, grow seedlings for about two years, and then plant them by hand, one by one, on former logging sites and abandoned lands. Although there are challenges—such as steep mountain slopes and rocky terrain—we have the chance to encounter various creatures and truly feel immersed in nature. We also offer opportunities (in Japanese only) open to everyone, such as nature observation events where participants can experience plants and animals in their natural environment, as well as lectures to learn about nature.

Evergreen forests are one type of evergreen broadleaf forest which spreads in areas with high rainfall in parts of East Asia. In Japan, they are seen in the southwest, and in the Kumano region, where species such as ichiigashi oak, ubamegashi oak, tabunoki camphor, and sudajii oak are known to grow.