News
Rewilding Japan With Clearings in the Forest and Crowdfunding Campaigns
Preserving the nation’s biodiversity requires opening up meadows in its vast cedar plantations. Conservationists are making headway, but progress depends on reconnecting youth with nature.
Photos and story by James Whitlow Delano
“Atta!” shouts Seiichi Dejima, of the Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NCSJ), as he raises binoculars to his eyes. He’s spotted one of a breeding pair of endangered Japanese golden eagles on a perch, high above, in the 10,000 hectare (25,000 acre) Akaya Forest in Japan’s Gunma Prefecture.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
State of Play
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”