January 24, 2020 12th Dialogue meeting was held in Kyoto

IER has continued to hold the dialogue since 2016, in order to feedback our research results to local communities. With the support of Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, and Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, more than 120 people from local governments and communities attended the dialogue this time.

With a title of “福島の森・里・川・海の今　～放射能問題からウナギ・カレイの新発見まで～(Current Forests, Villages, Rivers and the Sea in Fukushima: From Radiation Problems to the New Discovery of Eel and Flounder)”, the dialogue was programmed with two themes related to the environment of Fukushima. One theme for the first half of the program was “Fukushima affected by radioactive contamination”, in which 4 researchers made presentations on the effects of radiation in agriculture, forest, and seawater, including current situation after many years from the accident.

The other theme was “Fish ecology in Fukushima” on which 5 researchers made presentations. In recent years, various problems have been occurring in the ecosystem of fish in Fukushima, such as invasive species “channel catfish”, whose populations are increasing and likely to threaten the native creatures of the Abukuma River, as well as the “Japanese eel” in Matsukawa-ura (lagoon), where its population has declined remarkably. Fukushima University and Kyoto University have conducted surveys on these habitats and ecosystems with the aim of conserving the existing ecosystems. In this dialogue, the researchers talked about fish ecology and research methods that have been revealed in the joint research. The active discussion took place not only about maintaining the environment, but also about maintaining the fishing industry that has used the environment.

We IER held this dialogue in the Kansai region for the first time, and many people were interested in environmental issues in Fukushima viewed from different perspectives. We will continue our activities as opportunities to present our research results to provide and share the information about Fukushima with many people.