Saga NPO Lectures at Fukuoka Prefecture-Sponsored Event: "Nature Positive Starting from the Community" — OECM and Circular Economy Practices Cross Prefectural Borders

NPO Karatsu Farm&Food delivered a lecture on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the "Environmental Conservation Activity Group Exchange Meeting" held at Munakata Yurix in Munakata City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The event was organized by the Munakata, Onga, and Kasuya Regional Environmental Council, with the Fukuoka Prefectural Munakata/Onga Health and Welfare Environmental Office, Regional Environment Division serving as the secretariat.

The lecture, themed "Nature Positive Starting from the Community — Practices of OECM (Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures) and Resource Circulation/Environmental Education," was followed by a workshop in the second part, where participants experienced upcycling. Approximately 50 people, ranging from high school students to local environmental activists, attended, making it a day where Saga and Karatsu's initiatives resonated with Fukuoka's environmental conservation network.

Nature Positive is an international goal aiming to halt biodiversity loss and put nature on a recovery path by 2030. Based on the "Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework" adopted at COP15 in 2022, companies, local governments, and NPOs in Japan are accelerating their efforts.

Karatsu Farm&Food is an NPO based in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, that practices Nature Positive from the community through beach cleanups, environmental education, resource circulation, and the development of OECM sites.

The lecture reported on the following three themes:

1. **Marine Plastic Waste Issues, including Tsushima:** Introduced the reality of large amounts of washed-up waste in Northwest Kyushu due to the Tsushima Current, and beach cleanup activities in areas like Yobuko and Hato Cape. The voices from the field, where children and the community work together, were shared.
2. **Practice of Circular Economy (Resource Circulation):** A circular economy is an economic model that eliminates waste and circulates resources. Karatsu Farm&Food upcycles discarded PET bottle caps into keychains, ema (votive tablets), and beads by heating and molding them using Precious Plastic technology. This experience, where "plastic that was supposed to be thrown away becomes a local treasure," serves as environmental education for children to physically understand a circular society.
3. **OECM Site in Ochi-cho, Yokomakura:** OECM (Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures) is a system where the Ministry of the Environment certifies land that contributes to biodiversity conservation outside of protected areas like national parks. Yokomakura Farm, managed by Karatsu Farm&Food, is certified as an OECM site and participates in the Ministry of the Environment's 30by30 Alliance.

In the second part, two workshops were held:

In the "Ema of Hope Creation" workshop, participants wrote their hopes for the future on upcycled ema made from discarded PET bottle caps and hung them on a tree. In the "Bead Bracelet Making" workshop, participants experienced making bracelets using upcycled beads. High school students who participated were engrossed in the activity.

Activity reports were also given by the Koga Satoyama Preservation Society and the Fukuoka Prefectural Koryo High School Sea Turtle Club at the exchange meeting. The Sea Turtle Club's conservation activities for the Kasumi salamander showcased how the younger generation is leading the effort to "protect together" to society. Environmental conservation groups facing similar challenges gathered, creating an exchange meeting that fostered a network transcending regional boundaries.