Dr. Akira Miyawaki
“Forest Regeneration”

With support from
Japan-America Society of Indiana

Arvin Sango, Inc., a corporate member of the Japan-America Society of Indiana, cordially invites you to a complimentary, bilingual presentation by Dr. Akira Miyawaki on “Forest Regeneration.”  Arvin Sango has recently committed itself to bettering its community through reforestation and has invited Dr. Miyawaki, one of most renowned vegetation ecologists in the world, to advise on the project.  In order to make the expertise of Dr. Miyazaki available to the broader community, Arvin Sango is sponsoring this special, public presentation by Dr. Miyawaki.  We encourage you to attend and to share this announcement with other organizations and individuals who may be interested.

The lecture will be presented in Japanese with English interpretation.

Date and Time:         
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
2:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. EST DST (Registration starts at 2:15 pm)

Location:
Venture Out Business Center
975 Industrial Drive, Madison, IN 47250 ( 812-273-6510)
http://www.ventureoutbusiness.com
http://mapq.st/JK6Df6

Registration Fee:      Free

RSVP:  
By Friday, June 29th, 2012
To Nancy Cheatham (812/273-8114) or nancy.cheatham@arvinsango.com

Download the seminar presentation from here (English and Japanese, PDF File).

Profile:  Dr. Akira Miyawaki

Dr. Akira Miyawaki is a vegetation ecologist, professor emeritus of Yokohama National University, and the director of the IGES-Japanese Center for international Studies in Ecology.  Dr. Miyawaki’s specialty is vegetation ecology, and he has investigated both natural and already long-disturbed vegetation landscapes for over 40 years, not only in Japan, but also around the world.  He promotes forest regeneration using the local potential natural vegetation.

Potential natural vegetation (PNV) is a concept used to investigate and evaluate the theoretical potential of the natural environment of an area that may have had its environmental and geographical conditions modified by human activities over time.  The concept is useful for the regeneration of the natural vegetation.  It was first proposed by German vegetation ecologist Reinhold Tuexen in 1956 as a new idea to understand nature.

The idea of creating a forest by closely planting together different types of trees of the potential natural vegetation of the land, based on the PNV concept, is called the Miyawaki Method.  Closely and randomly planting many types of seedlings results in creating forests of tall and medium high trees as found in natural forest systems, which will reinforce diversity and resistance and will lead to co-existence of plants and draw from the vital energy of the trees themselves.  Weeding and other human support for tree growth are required only for the first three years after planting.  Thereafter, forest management is left to nature.  These are the main features of the Miyawaki Method.

Dr. Miyawaki has instructed people on planting in over 1,700 areas around the world, including over 1,400 sites in Japan, as well as in Borneo, Amazonia, Kenya, and China.  He has been involved in the planting of over 40 million native trees, together with companies, citizens, and communities, to contribute to forest regeneration.

In 2006, he was awarded the 15th annual Blue Planet Prize by the Asahi Glass Foundation, an award given to researchers who have contributed to the environmental conservation of the Earth, a first for a representative from Japan.