- NATURE CENTER PROJECT
Near the office of TEC, there is a Tobetsu River Nature Restoration District. This area have been created since 2001 to improve the river environment. Various environment and eco-system that contain marsh, pond, and meadow are being recovered gradually by this activities.
Now we are practicing a project that use this reatoratin area as a nature center in our community - place where people gather together and connect to nature and land. Through the activities of a nature center, people will be able to rediscover the local resources of food, farming and culture, we think. It's a community design project.
We are communicating with farmer and local people. The important thing is that people aware attraction of local resources. Then these awareness will be spreading out, it's will be shared.
It is grass-roots project practicing with community. We will try to find simple wealth one by one.
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2013
Pre-Event : Nature Experience and Local Food Lunch Tour
Date : July / 6 / 2013
Place : Kawashimo area, Tobetsu
Participants : 28 person
Guest : Hiroyuki Tsukada (Chef at Barcom Sapporo)
Programs : Canoeing at Tobetsu River / Harvest of Summer Asparagus / Lunch
using Local Ingredient
We have had some meetings for this project with local people, farmer, and landscape designer which are working at nature restoration district. But summer is busy season for each. So it proceed only a few.
We decided to do something first instead of meeting in the room. This pre-event is second time from last year.
We had programs that canoeing at Tobetsu river, harvesting of summer asparagus. And we invite a chef of BARCOM Sapporo, which is bar in Sapporo. He treated us to lunch using local ingredient.
Canoeing is a main event. Everyone got on 3 canoe boats. At riverbed, a horse wondered and stared to us.
They went down the river from nearby the office to the nature restoration area, it's the distance of 4.5km. Flow of the river is slow, they could be relax and enjoy scenery. Tobetsu river is surrounded by lots of trees, any artificial buildings are invisible. Only the song of the birds and sound of paddling was being heard. Time went by slowly surrounding by nature. A local person living in this area long time surprised that he had never seen the scenery on the river.
As the main river were got closer, flow of Tobetsu river got faster and some buildings could be seen. We had moved in nature before. But the situation changed and it made us think about something. A participant commented, "It was very interesting that there is a sharp contrast between nature and the city."
Ordinary, asparagus is harvested in spring, but a local farmer is glowing summer asparagus. We could experience to harvest it. It was so fresh and sweet.
Everyone surprised to the lunch that chef cooked. Menu was Potato gratin, Tobetsu pork hamburg, Bagna cauda, Watermelon soup, and so on. Everyone were completely satisfied. Almost of the ingredients were local food. We could find potential of local resources.
This event was agreat success. And the next year were decided.
This time we invited some friends. Our friends will invite their friends. Like this, we are going to make a connection of face to face slowly.
Today, the project of tourism or promotion that develop the new product is active as "local revitalization". But, we think it's more important that local people and community are active, lively, and happy. For that, it is also required that the view of others.
We are going to grasp the past history or living, connect to nature and community, create new culture or lives for the future. This is the new challenge of us.
Plan and Conduct : Tobetsu Ecological Community
