OISCA Children's Forest Program

   Since 1992, together with more than 350 schools, we have planted more than 510,000 trees in Sri Lanka. Although the scale of planting at each school is limited, the most significant achievement is that the children who participated in the program have developed a spirit of compassion toward nature and other people.

   When the Children’s Forest Program (CFP) started in Papua New Guinea in 1994, there was a sawmill near OISCA’s training center, and trailers loaded with logs were passing by.  When we called out to local people to “start planting trees before it’s too late,” the response from many people was cold. However, we focused on PR activities, including requesting the Governor of the Province to participate in the first activity and inviting newspaper reporters to write articles about it. The tree-planting volunteers from Japan also helped to expand the circle of understanding little by little. The government and society are now changing their mindset, with an 8 million tree-planting project now planned as a national project as well.

   The Central Arid Region, where OISCA operates, is a very dry and difficult to grow tress in the first place. We have been devising ways to ensure that the seedlings grow well by selecting the right species of trees for the land, making the seedlings, and maintaining and managing them, and have been passing these ideas on to the children.  By witnessing the growth of trees, children realize the importance and joy of greening and become more interested in the nature around them. 

　In Mongolia, where activities are being conducted without training centers or other base of operations, trainee alumni who underwent training in Japan, are playing a central role in promoting the “Children’s Forest Program” activities in their respective hometowns.

   Even though they were faced with a different situation than in previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were able to support the local community by acting as a bridge between them and the community, and were able to implement activities that met the needs of the community while taking advantage of OISCA’s strengths, such as supporting home vegetable gardens and the “Mask Project” in which masks were made with children from the Eco Club and donated to CFP participating schools.

   In the future, they plan to focus on activities in southern Mongolia, where the problem of desertification is becoming more serious, as a new challenge. 

   Located in Northern Mongolia’s Orhon Province, the school is in an area dotted with GER (Mongolian nomadic mobile homes).  It is a relatively new school built in 2015. When the school was first built, there was no greenery in the surrounding area, and through the Children’s Forest Program, over 250 trees have been planted to date, including maples and lilacs.  Not only have the children themselves been responsible for maintenance and management but they have also provided environmental education on the importance of greenery. 

   The school is located in Pyaw Bwe Township, Madalay Division, in the Central Arid Zone. This is an area that is severely arid and seems to have limited annual rainfall. The school was built for the children by the villagers with their own money, but they were few trees on the site. After leaning of OISCA’s activities at other schools, the principal consulted with the OISCA staff, and in 2021, the Children’s Forest Program started. 

   The school is a 20-minute drive from OISCA Rabaul Eco Tech Training Center.　The school is relatively new, founded in 2013, and is run by the church. The school is attended by children who have not yet entered elementary school, but due to family and other circumstances, children of various ages are enrolled at the school. In 2021, activities for the Children’s Forest Program (CFP) were initiated in accordance with the elementary school’s desire to provide children with opportunities to think about the environment from an early age. The first activity, OISCA staff provided an easy-to-understand explanation on the significance of environmental conservation, and the children listened intently.

 Located in Kurunegala, Northwestern Province, the school is on a main road and is well served by public transportation. Agriculture is thriving in the region, with many residents growing rice and vegetables for a living.

   In FY 2021, when face-to-face classes resumed, we planted fruit trees such as mango and rambutan, moringa with its nutritious fruit and leaves, and Pongame Oiltree which is expected to serve as a windbreak. 

   In Indonesia which has a large population, the disappearance of important coastal zones that support the country’s economy has become a serious problem in recent years. The damage is the largest on Java Island, where more than 50% of the total population lives, and especially those living along the coast of Demak Regency in Central Java are considered to be the biggest victims of coastal erosion.

   Coastal areas such as Bedono and Timbulsloko Villages, where OISCA operates, frequently encounter a local flood called Rob, phenomenon in which seawater invades inland areas as sea levels rise at high tide. Even schools participating in the Children’s Forest Program in the coastal area suffered serious damage, for example, Timbulsloko No. 1 elementary school, seawater flows in at high tide almost every day, and at high tide, flood damage occurs even in the classroom of the right-side school building which is not raised.  In addition, the school has only one existing toilet for teachers and one for children, which is not enough for the school’s 138 children. Moreover, there is no hand-washing area in the school, and as the infection of COVID-19 continues to spread, there are also hygiene problems.

   In cooperation with Phnom Pen Church of Christ, OISCA Cambodia carried out on May 16 and 23, food aid to support 77 local households who are suffering from poverty in livelihood under Corona virus pandemic.

   Since the end of February, the number of people infected by the virus is increasing in Phnom Pen.  The government locked down the city from April 14 through May 5 and restricted movement and activities. Particularly the area seriously infected was designated as red zone, and even after the lockdown, it has been prohibited to go out, hold markets and conduct business activities.

   In the midst of extreme poverty in the lives of people who have lost access to food and income, Mr. Chhourng Sovanna, former OISCA trainee and CFP Manager, started proving food aid. But the activities with the self fund were limited.

   In learning about such efforts, OISCA Nishi-Nippon Training Center solicited donations “for helping former trainees who learned at the Center” and supported Mr. Sovanna’s activity.  In the red zone of Phnom Pen where the movement of people is severely restricted, OISCA Cambodia with the cooperation of government officials, distributed food such as rice and noodles to 77 households.