As we have members on the island who can film the videos, we planned to release the videos during the past year, but we have been unable to achieve this yet due to the impact of COVID-19.
Now that it is especially important to share these ideas, we are putting in all we can to prepare for a time soon when we can film these videos and release them to the public.
Video production planned: communicating initiatives to tackle Chichijima's environmental issues to the world
Numbers of visitors to the island have fallen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing postponement to the expansion of the Ogasawara Traveler's Log" ("Oga Log" for short) tool for connecting visitors with the island and encouraging repeat visits.
With these points in mind, "the Chichijima Mirai Conference" considered what can be done for the island's future, and came up with the idea of sharing videos demonstrating the appeal of Chichijima's culture and island life.
Scripts for the videos are being written by members of "the Chichijima Mirai Conference". The council has met several times since November 2011 to work out the contents.
As a result of those discussions, the council decided on a plan to introduce measures individual residents can take to protect the environment in the world natural heritage site of the Ogasawara Islands, and improve awareness among visitors. The title is "Let's not dream, let it be reality: sharing Chichijima's environmental protection initiatives with the world".
The first of these major initiatives is "Shusshu, Korokoro", designed for preventing the introduction of invasive species to the island.
Visitors to the forest ecosystem protection area must only enter together with a guide who has a forest entry permit from the Forestry Agency. Moreover, visitors must do two things at the entrance. These are "shusshu" (spraying sound) - cleaning the soles of the shoes by spraying them with pyroligneous acid - and "korokoro" (wiping sound) - using an adhesive cleaning roller to wipe shoes, clothes, bags, etc. and prevent the unwitting introduction of invasive species.
Storyboard of the video
The second initiative is marine waste collection.
Marine pollution caused by pollutants like microplastics is a serious problem. It is well known that plastics can be consumed by marine animals, then circulate between different species and even have harmful effects on humans. We would like to use the video to present the initiative to collect plastic waste while diving.
