Mother Nature Conservation Camp and Temple Stay on Sado Island/Japan

 

 

As a participant of our Mother Nature Environmental Conservation Camp Japan you will stay on the grounds of the beautiful historic Koninji Temple on Sado Island and volunteer in environmental conservation, especially for the protection of the Crested Ibis, and various farming activities. As part of local communities you will have the chance to get to know a piece of rural and traditional Japan, which is typically not accessible to you as a normal tourist or when staying at larger cities. Futhermore, on this program we also always have Japanese participants, which stimulates an exchange of culture and language.

 

 

Accommodation and base of our Mother Nature Conservation program in Japan is Koninji Temple near the southern tip of Sado Island. It was built in 811 by Buddhist monks and is attractively located in the midst of an impressive hilly landscape of dense forests, terraced rice fields and small orchards near the sandy beaches of the southwest coast and Ogi Port, which is a popular tourist attraction for the Tarai Bune traditional round boat trips.

 

Since the monk was promoted to head of his order in Kyoto in early 2020 and only visiting his temple for about a week each month, the temple is not regularly used for religious activities. His mother still lives in the temple though, not only taking care of the guests, but also looking after the gardens and the maintenance of the historical buildings. As a volunteer, you can help her with these activities around the temple.

 

At the temple's historic guest house from 1843, you can choose between Japanese tatami rooms (single, double or 4-share occupancy), sleeping on a traditional futon, or western twin/double bedrooms (for single or double occupancy), or fully furnished large tents (for 1-4 people) set outside in the beautiful gardens of the temple grounds. In case of the tented accommodation, you would use the sanitary installation of the guest house. The meals for guests (Japanese food) are freshly cooked and delivered every day.

 

 

As a volunteer, together with Japanese volunteers, you will participate in a variety of activities for which our volunteer coordinator creates a weekly plan of activities.

 

 

 

 

The Crested Ibis ("Nipponia nippon") is a bird with a size of 54-88 cm and a wingspan of 140 cm, which until the onset of industrial agriculture in the mid-20th century was relatively common in Korea, China, Japan and parts Russia, but is now threatened with extinction by losing its habitats. In 2002 there were only around 150 Nippon Ibises left worldwide. In Japan, the species was completely wiped out. The last Nippon Ibis of Japan died in 2003.
 
As a result, the government of Japan, in cooperation with the Chinese government, launched an internationally recognized reintroduction program on Sado Island, where Crested Ibises from China were bred in captivity and released since 2008. The first hatchings in the wild were observed in 2012. Today there are again around 440 ibises on Sado Island, some of which were even spotted on the neighboring main island of Honshu.
 
Essential for the survival of birds in the wild are the presence of suitable habitats. This includes traditional rice farming methods and the design of paddy fields including zones where the birds can feed throughout the year, as well as biotopes optimised as feeding and breeding grounds for the ibis. The inclusion of Sado rice farmers and the promotion of traditionally grown, high quality organic rice from Sado Island have been crucial to the success of the reintroduction program.

 

 

For the CO2 compensation of your long-haul flights, we plant 10 seedlings of native trees on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.