Introductory practice activity on tree species identification
The Field Science Education and Research Center (FSERC) held its 22nd Open Course event subtitled "Contemplating Forests While in a Forest: The Felling of Forests" at the Ashiu Forest Research Station (Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture), which was co-sponsored by All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. (ANA) and Ecology Café, a nonprofit organization. This year's course, which focused on wood resources, was attended by a group of five high school students and thirty-two other participants.
On the first day of the course, the program consisted of lectures by four staff members from FSERC and an introductory practice activity on tree species identification, taught by a technical staff member, at the lecture room of the Ashiu Forest Research Station.
On the morning of the second day, led by faculty and technical staff members, four groups of participants walked in the Kamitani area of the forest from Sugio-toge Pass down along the Yuragawa River, looking at trees, identifying their species, and observing forest ecosystems. After lunch break at Chojidani, they split up into three courses: a "challenging" course for well-trained hikers (at the Mikuni-toge Pass), a "tree measurement" course, and an easy "strolling" course at Chojidani. All the participants got to visit a giant katsura tree in the Shimotani area and an artificial forest thinning site (The Miyanomori Experiment Zone) as a project by FSERC.
On the third day, as a field practice activity, participants walked along a track, with a "Heritage of Industrial Modernization" designation, that leads to the abandoned Haino Village. During lunch break, curry and rice with the meat of deer caught in the Ashiu area was served.
Although it was very hot under sunny skies, participants were fine until the end of the course. They learned and thought about what forests should be like not only through lectures, but also through doing real fieldwork.
 Observation of a natural forest |