ITTO and City of Yokohama host summer class for students on tropical forests

Yokohama City’s Environmental Bureau held a session on the connections between natural ecosystems and the lives of Yokohama citizens, including an exercise on the role of biodiversity in food chains.

ITTO staff members explained that Yokohama citizens benefit from many tropical forest goods and services and illustrated this by describing an ITTO project. The project, which was funded by the Government of Japan, assisted forest communities in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, to strengthen the conservation and sustainable use of cempaka (Elmerillia spp.). Cempaka is a native tree species that has long been used in the construction of traditional wooden houses, musical instruments and handicrafts, but its overexploitation has led to its decline in natural forests. The ITTO project has enabled local people to develop plantations of the species and increase their knowledge of cempaka cultivation and conservation. It developed 18 hectares of demonstration plots in the three participating districts and documented silvicultural techniques for the species to help ensure its sustainable management.

The class concluded with a reflection by the students on their connections with tropical forests and on the actions they can take to promote forest conservation and sustainable use. The students later visited ITTO headquarters.

The event was attended by 21 students in two sessions (morning and afternoon), many of them accompanied by their parents.