Official Visit to Kushiro Wetland and Lake Biwa in Japan

The delegation consist of seven high officers in Gilan lead by Mr.Shabanpour, Deputy Governor of Gilan Province, and Mr.Mohamadpour, Project Manager and Director General of Department of Environment Gilan, visited Japan to learn from Japanese good practices considering the situation of the Anzali Wetland from 11th to 21st October, 2016. The programs in Japan were arranged by JICA Expert Team. The delegation was very much welcomed by all of Japanese organizations.

They visited mainly two Ramsar sites, Kushiro Wetland and Biwa Lake, to learn about case studies of Wetland Ecosystem Conservation, Sewage Management, Waste Management and Environmental Education. They also attended the 3rd workshop to foster the partnership between Kushiro and Anzali Wetlands.

Detailed schedule of program in Japan is shown as the table below.

JICA expert team believes that they will utilize what they’ve learned in Japan for the Anzali Wetland Conservation in their respective organizations.

File Name	Date	Note
JICA_Tokyo	11 Oct.	On the first day of the training in Japan on 11 Oct. 2016, members of the delegation had a briefing at the JICA Tokyo International Center about basic matters on the training including outline of the program and basic life information in Japan.
JICA_HQ	11 Oct.	The delegation visited the JICA head office in Tokyo on 11 Oct. Mr. Shishido, Deputy Director General and Group Director for Forestry and Nature Conservation of Global Environment Dept. of JICA, gave a welcome speech for the delegation. In response, Mr. Shabanpour, Deputy Provincial Governor, expressed his gratitude on the training in Japan.
Ministry_Env Ministry_Env2 Ministry_Env3	11 Oct.	The delegation visited Ministry of Environment of Japan. Mr. Kajihara, Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, gave a welcome speech for the delegation. Then, Mr. Okuda, Director for Biodiversity Policy Division gave a presentation on important wetlands in Japan.
NipponKoei_Dinner	11 Oct.	In the end of the day, the delegation was invited for a dinner with some directors of overseas section of Nippon Koei Co., Ltd and discuss and exchange opinion on the project, environmental issues, and cultural and social subject between both countries.
161012_KushiroObservatory	12 Oct.	In the morning on 12 Oct, the delegation moved to Kushiro City, Hokkaido (north island of Japan). Firstly, Mr. Kikuch, secretary-general of the Kushiro Wetland International Center, explained about basic information on the Kushiro Wetland, where is the largest wetland in Japan, at the Kushiro Wetland observatory.
161012_KushiroOnnenaiBoardWalk	12 Oct.	The delegation walked board walk in the Onnenai Visitor Centor with further explanation by Mr. Kikuchi of KIWC on the Kushiro Wetland.
161013_KushiroCityMayor1 161013_KushiroCityMayor2	13 Oct.	The delegation visited Mr. Ebina, Kushiro City mayor at the Kushiro City office. Mr. Ebina welcomed the delegation and Mr. Shabanpour gave thanks for his welcome.
161013_KushiroTakkobuObservatory1 161013_KushiroTakkobuObservatory2	13 Oct.	The delegation visited the Takkobu Observatory where is located on a hill of the Kushiro Wetland with explanation on the wetland by Mr. Kikuchi of KIWC.
161013_KushiroShibechaHighSchool1 161013_KushiroShibechaHighSchool2 161013_KushiroShibechaHighSchool3	13 Oct.	The delegation visited Shibecha high school to see some activities on environmental conservation by students. Some students, who belong to a group of environmental conservation activities, made presentations on their activities. The students and delegation exchanged opinions.
161013_KushiroTourokoVisitorCenter	13 Oct.	In the Touroko Visitor Center, the delegation had a lecture by Mr. Kikuchi of KIWC on wetland conservation in the Kushiro Wetland.
161014_KushiroEnvConsevCenter1 161014_KushiroEnvConsevCenter2	14 Oct.	The delegation visited the Kushiro Wetland Wildlife Conservation Center under Ministry of Environment. Mr. Terauchi, ranger in the center, made a lecture on wildlife conservation activities under the center. Then, the delegation visited facilities for protection of sick and wounded animals.
161014_KushiroCraneCenter	14 Oct.	The delegation visited the Kushiro City Japanese Crane Nature Park, where conducts conservation activities for the Japanese Crane (Grus japonensis) and observed some pairs of the cranes who were protected in the park.
161014_KushiroFriendshipMeeting	14 Oct.	“3rd Workshop for Networking between Kushiro Wetland and Anzali Wetland” was held with attendance of relevant organizations of municipalities and NPO in Kushiro City and the delegation. After Mr. Mohammadpour, DG of DOE Gilan, made a presentation on the Anzali Wetland and some conservation activities, opinion exchanges were conducted fruitfully for further cooperation and collaboration on wetland conservation among Kushiro Wetland and Anzali Wetland in future.
161015_KushiroKanoe1 161015_KushiroKanoe2	15 Oct.	Before returning to Tokyo on 15 Oct, the delegation experienced a canoe ecotour, which is operated by local residents as a good practice of the localized ecotourism activities.
161017_Biwa_LBERI_1 161017_Biwa_LBERI_2 161017_Biwa_LBERI_3	17 Oct.	The delegation visited the Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute under Shiga Prefectural government. After taking lecture on environmental conservation in the Lake Biwa and research activities in LBERI, the delegation was visited different research sections of the LBERI.
161018_Biwa_ShigaDepGovernor_1 161018_Biwa_ShigaDepGovernor_2 161018_Biwa_ShigaDepGovernor_3 161018_Biwa_ShigaDepGovernor_4	18 Oct.	The delegation visited Mr. Nishijima, deputy prefectural governor of Shiga Prefecture at the Shiga prefectural government establishment. Mr. Nishijima welcomed the delegation and Mr. Shabanpour gave thanks for his welcome.
161018_Biwa_EnvLawLecture	18 Oct.	In the Shiga prefectural office, the delegation took a lecture on environmental legislation system, especially water quality-related prefectural bylaw.
161018_Biwa_WaterPlantRemoval_1 161018_Biwa_WaterPlantRemoval_2	18 Oct.	The delegation observed removal activity of water plant by using machinery. The delegation made various questions on the machinery to consider possibility of application for the Anzali Wetland in future.
161018_Biwa_Museum_1 161018_Biwa_Museum_2 161018_Biwa_Museum_3	18 Oct.	The delegation visited the Lake Biwa Museum, owned by Shiga Prefecture. Mr. Haga, Chief Curator in the museum, guided the delegation in the facilities of the museum, which exhibits natural, cultural, anthropologic, and aquatic subjects for all generations.
161019_Biwa_SewagePlant_1 161019_Biwa_SewagePlant_2 161019_Biwa_SewagePlant_3 161019_Biwa_SewagePlant_4 161019_Biwa_SewagePlant_5 161019_Biwa_SewagePlant_6	19 Oct.	The delegation visited a sewage treatment plant with advanced waste water treatment technology near the Lake Biwa, where Dr. Najafi, Gilan provincial governor, was also visited two years ago and a panel of his visit is exhibited in the information center.
161019_Biwa_FinalDisposal_1 161019_Biwa_FinalDisposal_2 161019_Biwa_FinalDisposal_3	19 Oct.	The delegation visited the Kouga City industrial waste final disposal site with advanced technology for control and treatment of leachate, where would be good reference for future construction of new final disposal site in Gilan Province.
161020_DistrictCourt	20 Oct.	The delegation visited the Kyoto district court to see local court facility in Japan on 20 Oct.
161020_PeacMuseum	20 Oct.	The delegation visited the Peace Museum, which is owned by the Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto for public awareness raising for the general public including students on the previous wars by Japan and other countries, to learn one historical aspect of Japan and other countries.
161021_KyotoEcoMusium1 161021_KyotoEcoMusium2	21 Oct.	The delegation visited the Ecology Museum of Kyoto City, which is an environmental education facilities, especially for elementally and junior high school students. In addition to exhibition of various kinds of hands-on educational displays, the center building itself equip environmental friendly, low energy consumption devices and facilities.
161021_Certificate1 161021_Certificate2 161021_Certificate3	21 Oct.	In the end day of the training in Japan, all the participants received certificates on completion of the training from JICA on 21 Oct.