3-1 Extinction and Reintroduction of the Stork

During the Edo era, the stork was seen all over Japan, but excessive hunting during the Meiji era caused its numbers to decrease. During  1940, pine trees in the rest of the habitat in Toyooka were cut down in order to supply timber to the front during the World War II, and the stork habitat was lost. In 1955, “the stork(Kounotori) protection cooperation” (renamed the “Tajima Kounotori Protection Support Group” in 1958) was established and protection activities between  the government and citizens started.

At the same time, Japan also entered a period of high economic growth which led to lifestyle change and the promotion of modern and efficient agriculture.

Agriculture in Toyooka was also reformed into well-drained rice paddy fields due to consolidation of farmland.

Rivers, waterways and rice paddies were divided into pieces and farmers began to use chemical fertilizers.

As a result, in spite of protection activities being initiated, the number of living creatures decreased rapidly in the rice paddies, and agricultural chemicals affected the bodies of the storks. In 1971, the last wild storks became extinct in Japan.

In 1965, Hyogo Prefecture started a captive breeding program, but it was not successful for a long time. The last stork living in captivity in Toyooka died in 1986, and thus the storks of Japan became extinct. In 1985, Toyooka City received 6 chicks

from Russia. In 1989,  the captive breeding program was successful for the first time. It was the 25^th year since captive rearing was started.

Since the first chick was born in the captive breeding program, chicks have been born every year. In 2002, the captive stork population grew to over 100. In September, 2005, five storks were tentatively reintroduced to the wild, and they flew in the sky of Toyooka for the first time in 34 years. In 2007, a chick was born in the wild for the first time in Japan, and since this point, breeding in the wild has been continuing smoothly and the population had increased to over 60 by 2012.

3-2 Efforts to Reintroduce the Oriental White Stork (nature restoration) and Community Restoration

The stork has been living near human settlements where there are rice paddies, waterways, mountains and forests. The storks catch their food there, make nests and raise their young.

These environments foster biodiversity and a unique local culture where people and animals live and are blessed by nature.

Residents in Toyooka witnessed the extinction of the stork, and they decided to reintroduce storks into the skies of Toyooka again.

“We have seen the process  of White Stork reintroduction since their disappearance, and learned many things through these experiences.” Toyooka City realized that “the ideal environment for the White Storks is also one that is ideal for humans”.  (Extract from the preamble of the basic environmental bylaw)

In Toyooka,  “in order to create a rich environment where the stork also can live”, various stakeholders have worked together to promote nature conservation and restoration.

3-3 Case Studies

3-3-1 Promotion of the environmentally-friendly agricultural method for fostering biodiversity  in rice paddies

The stork is a predator at the top of the food chain, and requires biodiversity and properly managed environments such as satoyama, rice paddies, rivers and waterways.

Farmers first took action when the project to reintroduce the stork into the wild  began, due to the  necessity of increasing the number of living creatures in the rice paddies for the stork to eat. However, the rice paddies and waterways were separated and there were no creatures in the dried rice paddies. There were also many opposing opinions about reintroducing the stork into the wild, as they were harmful birds, which step on rice plants after they are planted in the rice paddies.

The establishment of the “Hyogo Prefectural Homeland for the Oriental White Stork” public park raised local farmers’ awareness and led to more concrete activities. The Japan Agricultural Cooperative in Hyogo Prefecture and local farmers began to work in close collaboration. They decided to promote farming methods that provide habitats to  living creatures in the rice paddies without using  pesticide or chemical fertilizers.

In 2003, their cultivation techniques were compiled as the “White Stork Friendly Farming Method” so they could disseminate  the unique techniques. The rules for increasing biodiversity and producing  tasty rice are as follows:

1. No use of pesticide,  or a 75% reduction

2. No use of fertilizer during the growing season

3. Sterilize  seeds in boiling water (for seed disease control)

4. Management of paddy field drainage

(paddy fields are not drained until tadpoles become frogs)

5. Promotion of traditional rice paddy water management（Photo 2）

(prolonged period for flooded fields)

6. Rice paddy water depth control