2014.5 CFP Ambassadors in Fukuoka

   The “Green Wave Asakura 2014-Students Environment Forum” was held on May 25, 2014 at the P-port Amagi in Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Four school children from India and the Philippines, who are participating in the Children’s Forest Program (CFP), visited Japan as “Children’s Goodwill Ambassadors” and made reports on their activities at the conference. The Indian Goodwill Ambassadors stated that with the increase in population, there have been growing environmental problems and natural disasters, and appealed for the importance of forests in solving the problems. Also, they reported on tree planting and trash collection carried on at school for protecting forests and environmental workshops. Moreover, they presented pictures showing how the wastelands turned into green spaces, and the audience was quite impressed by the positive results.

From the local side, 7 junior and senior high schools took part in the forum and made presentations on various activities for the environmental protection and efforts for regional revitalization. The Japanese, Filipino and Indian children were earnestly listening to the reports made by their colleagues. Although they are from different cultural backgrounds, they seemed to share a common sentiment for protecting the same “FURUSATO”. The forum turned out to be a valuable opportunity to foster common awareness for taking an appropriate action on the protection of the “FURUSATO” and the earth.