Now, we are searching for New Lifestyle with COVID-19. Already during the State of Emergency during April and May, the number of people who visited Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森 skyrocketed. According to May 21st issue of Town News, Niiharu Satoyama Park Office said the number of people who visited the Park (1/3 area of Niiharu Forest, outside the “territory” of Niiharu Lovers Association) was 7,776 in April 2020, compared with 4,151 in April 2019. Although, the State of Emergency was lifted, the trend of more visitors continues. Yeah, we know new patients of COVID-19 emerge daily in Metropolitan Tokyo. We must adjust our way of doing things to live with COVID-19 …
Anyway, especially in April at the beginning of New Lifestyle, Lovers Association of Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森愛護会 heard many incidences in the Forest, including
- Theft of marketable plants and animals, including wild orchid, bamboo shoots, larvae for butterflies, etc.
- Unlawful parking in wherever near Niiharu Forest. Neighbors are furious now. People for the office of Satoyama Park found many number plates from Tokyo or beyond during the State of Emergency. “I just wonder why they don’t go to their nearby forest.” Yeah.
- Unleashing dogs; you may say “So what?” It’s a huge NO-NO. These pets have immunity for infectious diseases thanks to vaccine shots. They can carry illness without any problem. If you unleash them in forest, they leave the source of maladies there. Poor wild animals, like racoon dogs and hare, will easily receive viruses and the like, and be pushed to the edge. Actually, racoon dog families of Jike Citizen Forest 寺家市民の森 (; my post on July 10, 2015) are now near extinction due to scabies brought by pets. If you bring your pets to forest, please keep them within your reach ALWAYS, to save wild animals.
- Riding bikes in the forest; this is also a terrible prohibited move. Such mechanized tires dig and compact the soil without fail in a second. Under the climate of Yokohama, once a terrain in a forest is scarred in this way, it takes 100 years to recover 1cm of topsoil with natural process with leaf litters and soil organisms. Compressed soil deprives oxygen for the creatures living underground, including the roots of mighty oaks. The area will die as a biosphere sooner or later. If you want to experience thrills of mountain biking, please go to designated areas for the usage, not in natural forests.
- Barricaded a spot for “our family’s personal usage” with ropes tied to trees. Under Japanese law, the things growing in a forest is also a property of landlord of the place. Without permission of the owner, being it the governmental office (for Satoyama Park) or the private titleholders (for 2/3 of Niiharu Forest), such act is pure trespassing. The property-owners can sue the perpetrator for criminal offence. They may have wanted to pitch their tent and keep away “may-be COVID-19 infected people” from their weekend relaxation. But it’s illegal, PERIOD. Besides, fastening rope to trunks could damage the vegetation, you know.
- And, … Trashing. The number of garbage we collect during our patrolling is definitely on the rise for Niiharu Citizen Forest. Forest is not your trash can. Please carry your waste away from the forest, thank you.
In June, it seems to me, the situation is heading to a new equilibrium … Not many serious incidences now. Even though, the number of people who come to Niiharu Forest stays “Many” compared with the pre-COVID era. In addition to the families with kids, now we Lovers meet many groups of young people, including running circles. They may have found a new training ground for their future marathon events, instead of going circles around a crowded Imperial Palace … As Lovers suspended our forestry activity for April and May, the roads of Niiharu Forest are almost overwhelmed by overgrown grasses and tree branches. Weekend mowing and pruning has become heavier tasks compared with the pre-COVID time. We must do this and at the same time be alert of crowds passing by. “Naomi! Stop your weed whacker!” Then, behind me, a group of colorfully clad runners went in speed. Phew. Close call … I hoped some of them might be interested in helping us to take care of our nature … My wish is going to be fulfilled, perhaps. My senior for Lovers who’s in charge of answering email enquiries, Mr. Katsumasa Matsuda to be exact, told me. “From April, I’m receiving lots of emails asking how to be a member of Lovers. During the State of Emergency, they came to Niiharu Forest and impressed that much!” We resumed our weekly activity on June 6th, and already there have come two new members. Will they remain? Will this trend continue?
Niiharu Lovers do community service, including a support for local schools who visit the Forest for educational purposes. Just recently, 5th Graders of nearby Miho Elementary came to mow the area of School Forest. Miho Elementary 三保小学校 is one of the 5 biggest elementary schools in the City of Yokohama. 5th Graders are 200 kids of 5 classes with 40 pupils each. In Pre-COVID, they came the Forest en masse, had an orientation meeting at once, then entered the site to do the task altogether. Not this time with COVID-19. The program was designed to avoid having a large gathering. Class-by-class, 40 kids each, they came to the site separately. Teachers used the walkie-talkie heavily to keep distance between the classes. “This is Class-3. We’ve arrived the entrance to Ikebuchi Hiroba いけぶち広場, over?” “Copied. This is Class-2. We will complete the task in 15 minutes.” “This is Class-3. Roger.” Woooooow. This is some sort of serious operation. We Lovers did the same orientation 5 times. A smaller group of 2-3 kids were spreading widely in the forest, and we instructed their usage of sharp sickles almost personally, 5 times for each class. All of us wore masks, and kids wiped the handles and helmets after their use with sanitizing wipes they brought from home.
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| Sanitized sickles … we’re not butcher, for sure. |
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| Sanitized helmets. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm … |
When Class-5 came to the site, it was past 11 o’clock. Some of them were saying “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, I’m hungry!” “Well, after finishing this, you’ll have a school lunch, won’t you.” “Nope!” “Huh? Have you brought a packed lunch from home?” “Nope.” “?” “We go home after this.” “We don’t have a full-day school yet.” “Someday is only in the morning. The other day is only for the afternoon.” Oh … We understood. Still, kids looked very happy in the forest. They impressively mowed their field. “Well, do you want to do it more? Do you want to play in the forest?” “Yeaaah!” They replied with twinkling eyes and bright cheeks poked from the side of masks. I was a bit afraid if they were nearing to heat strokes …They are lucky kids, living next to one of the richest forests of Megalopolis Tokyo. Since last March, the schools that Kanagawa Forest Instructors regularly support their forest activities do not have any of such activities at all. We don’t know when their educational forest adventure resumes … Meanwhile, kids around Niiharu Forest are playing almost daily in the forest and fishing Louisiana Crawfish. Well, they don’t have 6-week summer vacation, nor 2-week winter recess this year. Those holidays are already halved to re-schedule the covering of lost school days. New normal for the Covid-19 Generation.
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| Before kids |
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| After kids. They did a wonderful job. |
Oh, if you’re interested in joining Niiharu
Lovers, please email to
niiharu_aigokai@nifty.com
Mr. Matsuda understands English. We’re doing our
weekend forestry every week, rain or shine, literally. (Oh, yeah) Annual membership
fee is 1000 yen which is for insurance. 😊
Niiharu Administrative Office
/ Satoyama Exchange Center新治管理事務所・里山交流センター
Phone: 045-931-4947
Fax: 045-937-0898
Email: info@niiharu.jp
Office for the Park
Greeneries in the North 北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government
Creative Environment Policy Bureau 横浜市環境創造局
Phone: 045-311-2016
FAX: 045-316-8420
If you find
environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa
Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター
657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121
〒243－0121 厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323
You can send an
enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/
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