May 8, 2015
OISCA and the tsunami survivors wish to extend our deepest and sincerest gratitude to the donors who have helped materialized the reforestation activities along the coastline of Natori City in Miyagi, Japan which was damaged by the March 11, 2011 tsunami.
Last year, we have successfully covered an area of 15.67 hectares with 80,182 black pine seedlings; employed 1,402 tsunami survivors and forest workers; mobilized 1,500 volunteers; and educated 5,000 people through the organized symposiums and photo exhibits.
Based on the conducted monitoring and evaluation by our forest experts, the survival rate of the planted seedlings is 98.4% attributed from having a good weather, careful planning prior to the actual tree planting activities as well as the expertise and strong commitment of the people who are involved into the project.
This year, we intend to maintain and even surpass the survival rate of last year`s tree planting activities. With the help of tsunami survivors, 90,000 pieces of black pine seeds were sown and scheduled to be transplanted in the project site in two years. A total of 49,822 black pine seedlings were planted in 9.74 hectares while less than 500 broad leaf species of seedlings were also planted by volunteers. We are also maintaining the 130,000 black pine seedlings grown in our two nurseries to be transplanted next year.
Meanwhile, the organization`s efforts in the disaster recovery work is now gradually recognized within and outside Japan as manifested on the “Good Life Award” from the Ministry of Environment and “Japan Resilience Award” from the Association for Resilience Japan during the Third UN Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) which was held from March 14 to 18 in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture.
In the span of 10 years, we intend to rehabilitate a total of 100 hectares of coastal forest. Considered as a green infrastructure project due to its scope, timeline and objective to establish a natural barrier to help mitigate the impact of natural disasters; OISCA needs to raise a total of 12,000,000 USD to guarantee the successful implementation of the project. So far we have raised only 30% of the total budget and we are still working on massive lobbying to gain support and assistance in any form from various sectors of society.
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