Student Council Activities to Conserve the Forest at Keio Senior High School

(Posted September 2024)

The Environment and Welfare Committee at work

Watanuki and Suzuki: At the Student Council's Environment and Welfare Committee, we are engaged in activities to restore and maintain the forest. There are five core members. We hadn't been able to do much since the COVID-19 pandemic, but we've just recently resumed our activities. Since the work procedures hadn't been passed down, we decided to start from scratch. We asked Tokyu Green, the company that regularly maintains the Hiyoshi Campus, to teach us things like the proper way to use a sickle. We also removed weeds from around the seedlings we planted. They also taught us about dangerous plants in the forest. Professor Kinji Fukuyama (Professor Emeritus of Keio University, Faculty of Economics) also gave us detailed advice, such as pointing out areas with many bees to be careful of. The forest became quite overgrown during the pandemic, so we also want to maintain the walking trails so that people can use them.

Our first experience with the Hiyoshi forest was for a "Field Notebook" assignment in science class when we were students at Keio Futsubu School. At that time, we sketched ferns, and we were moved to see that when we looked closely, there were many different types, each with a form adapted for survival as an individual plant. We were also surprised that although Hiyoshi is an urban area, there is such a forest on campus, and it was unexpected to find a proper ecosystem there. A little research revealed that before the town of Hiyoshi was developed, the entire area was a coppice forest, and the *satoyama* (traditional rural landscape) was preserved, but development caused it to disappear. However, the forest has been properly preserved within the Hiyoshi Campus.

We think this environment, where students and the forest still coexist, is very precious. Now, partly because it wasn't maintained during the pandemic, some parts of the forest are suffering from oak wilt. We feel that the speed of natural change is tremendous, even in just two or three years.

Professor Fukuyama has told us about the history of the Hiyoshi forest many times. We have also participated in university activities (the "Uni-Volante" activities).

There are also rare plants in the forest. The areas where they grow are not well-maintained, and we feel we must do something about it. Plants grow quickly, so if we don't take proper care of them, we think even the plants that are supposed to be there will disappear. This is something we can notice precisely because there is a forest on campus.

We are calling on other students at Jukuko (Keio Senior High School) to join us in maintaining the forest. Also, when we talk to people from Uni-Volante, we hear that many of them have been active since their time at the affiliated schools. So, if all of Keio's affiliated schools work together on forest conservation, we think it would build connections and also help protect the environment.

This is a photo from 1952, before the postwar reforestation, when Mamushidani was a barren mountain. According to Mr. Kushi, it's from an album donated by an alumnus to the Keio Senior High School archives committee. It's amazing to think that a large forest grew from this through reforestation. We want to create a new landscape on this campus. We hope to properly manage the coppice forest and create a place with unimaginable scenery, a place where you can find rare plants just by stepping inside, a place where you can feel at ease the moment you enter.

To be honest, we feel that there are challenging aspects to managing this as a high school student council organization. There are also areas where the plants have become so overgrown that they are unmanageable. There are even queen Japanese giant hornets. Also, there is a lot of bamboo grass, and its cut edges are extremely sharp, making it dangerous if you step on it. This forest is absolutely essential for Keio University as a whole, so we hope that everyone, including adults, can cooperate to protect it.

We think it's very important that this place remains in the city, on campus, as a place where Keio students can casually stop by after proper maintenance, connect with nature, and reflect on various things. We want to protect this forest and make it an even more wonderful place.

Mr. Kushi: The students are very enthusiastic about their activities, so the teachers are just here to support what they want to do. Since they have only just resumed, I believe they will now carry out their activities regularly. The biggest challenge is a lack of manpower, especially since many students don't participate because they dislike insects. I want to create a system that somehow encourages students who dislike insects to participate.

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