MONTHLY NEWS
December 2002

Japan Gets a Really, Really Big Present from Thailand

Japan has received a surprise gift from Thailand: a pair of baby elephants. The elephants were a thank-you gift for a tree-planting project carried out in Thailand by a Japanese volunteer organization.

The Japanese organization that planted the trees in Thailand is known as the Organization for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA). OISCA is a nongovernmental organization that sends volunteers to work in countries throughout the world.

OISCA has been engaged in agriculture and forestry projects (including tree planting) for over 40 years. These projects help communities in the countries concerned not only by improving the environment but also by training local people in various skills. OISCA is involved in tree-planting projects all over the world. One of these is in Surin Province, Thailand.

In the 1970s, OISCA received a call for help from Surin Province, which is in northeastern Thailand. When OISCA volunteers visited the province, they found a barren, dusty landscape. Forests used to cover 40% of the province's area, but many trees had been cleared away so that land could be used for rice paddies. When people found that the soil was not suitable for growing rice, the land was left barren. In July 1980 OISCA launched a tree-planting project in Surin Province. Every summer since then, volunteers from Japan have traveled to the province in large numbers to plant trees. OISCA's activities have made the local citizens aware of the importance of trees, and the citizens have begun to lend their support to the organization's efforts.

In 2002, after OISCA finished its twenty-first annual tree-planting in Surin Province, trees covered over 400 hectares of land there. (A hectare is an area of land equivalent to a square that is 100 meters on each side.) The province now has several deeply forested areas where a person can walk in a straight line for 30 minutes and be surrounded by trees the whole time.

Some of these trees were planted by local Thai children under the Children's Forest Program, which OISCA started in 1994 as a way to get kids involved in tree planting. The trees are planted in schoolyards, and the kids even get to choose which types of trees to plant. Kids in Surin Province chose from among about 40 kinds of tree, including teak, bamboo, and banana.

Under the shade of the trees, the schoolchildren get to do many other fun and educational projects, such as raising chickens and creating fish ponds. So far, OISCA has brought the Children's Forest Program to 29 local middle and high schools. Some elementary schools have joined in the effort, too.

Mr. Toshimichi Yoshida, one of the people who coordinates OISCA's activities in Surin Province, reports that his experience has been very rewarding: "Recently, when I was visiting a school in Surin, a student said to me, 'Through this project, I've learned many things. This knowledge has given me self-confidence, and I also have the satisfaction of knowing that I helped create a forest. I used to be afraid to get up and speak in front of people, but not anymore. I've changed!'"

Now that the kids in Surin Province appreciate the value of trees and are helping to create forests with their own hands, they will surely pass this spirit on to future generations.

Back in Japan, the baby elephants from Thailand are living in Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, where a new elephant house has been built for them. The elephants, which made the long trip across the ocean in October 2002, are five-year-old Arthit, a male, and four-year-old Authai, a female. On October 29 a party was held to welcome the elephants to their new home, and the zoo's many visitors have been enjoying them ever since.

Thailand gave the elephants to Japan as a token of gratitude and friendship. The elephants were also given to mark the first birthday of Princess Aiko, who was born to Japan's Crown Princess Masako and Crown Prince Naruhito on December 1, 2001.

Photos: (Top) Arthit, on the left, with Authai; (Middle) An area in Surin Province in 1993 (left), in 2000 (center), and in 2002 (right); (Bottom) Ground behind an elementary school in Tatum district before (1996) and after (2000) trees were planted. (OISCA-International)