Tottori Prefecture – Kauf Town
Kauf Town is the smallest town in Tottori Prefecture with the smallest population and the lowest GDP. The various problems facing rural areas, such as a declining population, a decrease in the number of people taking up farming, an increase in abandoned farmland and the deterioration of ‘SATOYAMA’, are becoming more apparent, but as a small municipality it has the advantage of being able to move with a sense of speed.
In November 2022, Lisa Kirimura,M.D. President of PHI, signed a cooperation agreement to promote planetary health, and in February 2024, JAHI-PHI, PHI’s predecessor, signed a cooperation agreement with the town. This cooperation have been promoting demonstration experiments and social implementation with the aim of creating a planetary health model.
This is the first practical example of a community-wide initiative in Japan and is also a progressive example internationally.
Protecting and regenerating the mountains and Satoyama has multiple benefits in terms of human well-being, the environment, disaster prevention, food security, education, tourism and culture.
We are working to create a model for Local Development 2.0 by building a Planetary Moral Economy based on the Nature Positive Economy, which values natural capital and well-being and planetary morality, which have not been valued in terms of GDP.
- Regenerative agriculture – building an augmented ecosystem through synecoculture.
- Regenerative civil engineering – the Okudaisen National Park area, water source restoration and disaster prevention.
- Green energy from water – micro-hydropower and green hydrogen production.
- Planetary health tourism
RYUIKI-water shed model
The word ‘RYUIKI’ means ‘watershed’ in Japanese.
However, the term encompasses not only the dynamics of water, but also the history and culture of the land, human activities and the activities of the ecosystem.
Since ancient times, the Japanese have worshipped the mountains that hold water, living in the satoyama where the fertility of the mountains creates a fertile sea.
We believe that we can create a model for planetary health in Japan’s watersheds.
The Hino and Hii rivers originate from Mt. Sentsuzan and Mt. Daisen, respectively, and flow through this area.
We are planning to create a Ryuiki model in collaboration with local governments, companies and organisations within and outside the region that share these two watersheds.
Tottori-Tokyo
In 2024, a demonstration project will be launched in collaboration with Marunouchi Rice Mill, a new business of Mitsubishi Estate, through the distribution of special rice using the hometown tax donation program of Kauf Town.
From 2025, a demonstration experiment will be conducted to lay the foundation for a global moral economy, which will create a flow of people from the city to Kauf Town and trigger an increase in the number of people involved and the number of people taking up farming.
