GEELONG DAYS 2018 People, Nature and Future linked by Tidal Flats Geelong Days ’18 Report FY2017 Student Dispatch Program based on the Wetland Affiliation Agreement with the City of Greater Geelong, Australia GEELONG DAYS’18 Geelong Days ■Issued by TEL.052-223-1067 FAX.052-223-4199 ： Nagoya City EnvironmentalPeople, Affairs Nature Bureau and Future13F Fushimi linked Life by Plaza, Tidal Flats23-13 Sakae 1-choume, Naka-ku, Nagoya City, 460-8508 ◎In consideration■ ofIssued the environment, in this report uses recycled paper containing waste paper pulp and vegetable oil ink. ： September 2018 Introduction Migratory Birds that connect Nagoya and Geelong ～Deepening ties between the cities through the Wetland Affiliation Agreement～ Let’sLet’s springspring intointo action!action! The Fujimae Tidal Flat in Nagoya City is an which is situated in the southeastern part of important relay point where many migratory birds Australia. It is home to the wetlands included the ForFor thethe futurefuture ofof tidaltidal flats.flats. land while they travel between the northern and route of the migratory birds that land in the Fujimae southern hemispheres. After resting their wings and Tidal Flat. Nagoya and Geelong concluded a In March 2018, 18 junior high school students enjoying the abundance of rich food in this area, Wetland Affiliation Agreement on May 22, 2007, from Nagoya visited Geelong City in Australia to learn these birds then depart for Australia, Siberia and and since then, the two cities have been working about environmental protection organizations. other destinations. together to promote the conservation and utilization Geelong City is located in the state of Victoria, of wetlands. GEELONG DAYS’18 Cultivating the youth who will tackle environmental protection themselves ～ ～ Dispatching 104 junior high school students over 10 years Every two years, Nagoya City sends over pictures that would tell the people of Nagoya some of its junior high school students to what they learnt during their time in Geelong. We Geelong City to learn about its environmental hope these student reports will motivate protection organizations, and for the students to Nagoya’ s citizens to become more involved in also interact with locals so both sides can learn environmental protection activities. from each other. The aim of Itinerary dispatching these students is to help Sunday Depart from Chubu Centrair International Airport → Singapore Changi Airport them cultivate the skills they can use March 25th to tackle environmental protection Monday → Arrive at Melbourne Airport→ Fitzroy Gardens→ St Patrick’s Cathedral→ Federation Square themselves. 2017 marked the 10th March 26th → State Library of Victoria→ Serendip Sanctuary anniversary since the program started Tuesday → Geelong Town Hall → National Wool Museum in 2007, and during that decade 104 March 27th → Breamlea Beach → Jirrahlinga Koala & Wildlife Sanctuary students were sent over from Wednesday → Marin and Freshwater Discovery Centre, The Swan Bay Tidal Flats → Queenscliff Primary School Nagoya to Geelong, including the March 28th → Around the Queenscliff area → Queenscliff Harbour group in 2017, to deepen the ties Thursday → Queen Victoria Market → Melbourne Museum, etc. between the two cities. March 29th → Depart from Melbourne Airport These reports were written by Friday many of the students, who decided → Singapore Changi Airport → Arrive at Chubu Centrair International Airport March 30th and wrote about topics and selected 01 02 Report by Junior High School Students ① What I saw at Geelong A clean town with almost no trash littering the streets ～Townscape of Geelong～ EverythingEverything II sawsaw waswas soso Geelong City is located about 70km from Actually, Nagoya also had trash cans placed on Melbourne in Australia. Around 200,000 people the city streets, but they were removed in 2004 freshfresh andand newnew live in this city blessed with a lush natural with the intention of getting people to take their environment including over 100 wetlands, where trash home to dispose of; now the city and its These are reports by the junior high school students every year 60,000 migratory birds land – some residents are making efforts to sort garbage for about what they saw and learnt while in Geelong. from as far as Siberia. recycling. Realizing how Geelong and Nagoya Trash cans are placed at even intervals along have this different way of dealing with trash in the main streets of Geelong, so I hardly saw any the city was a fresh discovery for me. GEELONG DAYS’18 trash littering the streets when I was there. Efforts by locals to protect the Hooded Plover ～Activities I saw around Geelong～ Even around the Queenscliff area and birds. The Hooded Plover lays its eggs on the Breamlea Beach, there wasn’ t any trash littering beach, and the local primary school students and the streets; and the ocean water was so clear volunteers have written DON’ T TOUCH signs and beautiful. and placed them on the beach to prevent people One of the things we learnt while at Geelong breaking the eggs. Anyone who finds an egg is was about the Hooded Plover. There are 520 of asked to contact the Geelong Town Hall so they them in Victoria, and even Geelong has only 20 can protect it. These are some of the efforts by of these extremely precious and endangered locals to protect the Hooded Plover. Moved by seeing wild animals up close ～Serendip Sanctuary and Jirrahlinga Koala & Wildlife Sanctuary～ There are no fences at the open-style Serendip protects animals that have strayed from their Sanctuary, so we could see the kangaroos and parents and herd, and look after them until they are many other animals up close. Apparently, the ready to be released back into the wild. I felt this is Sanctuary is also artificially breeding some wild a really important thing to do, as it is protecting the animals that are facing extinction. area’ s native animals. I was able to pet a koala The Jirrahlinga Koala & Wildlife Sanctuary and some other animals Australia is famous for. 03 04 Report by Junior High School Students ② Geelong’s living creatures These are reports by the junior high school LearningLearning byby connectingconnecting students on what they learnt about the withwith livingliving creaturescreatures living creatures found around Geelong. Learning together with So many living creatures on the beach local primary school students ～Breamlea Beach and the Swan Bay Tidal Flats～ ～Marine and Freshwater Discovery Centre～ GEELONG DAYS’18 We saw some Hooded Plover described in At the Swan Bay Tidal Flats we saw pelicans and We paired up with students from the Queenscliff Primary touch, and they looked like eyes you can see through, while Report 1 on the shores of Breamlea Beach. The black swans, and we learnt that these swans are a School and visited the Marine and Freshwater Discovery the sea lettuce tasted like a hard type of wakame with a English name literally means a plover born with a vital part of the Swan Bay food chain. Centre, where we could touch and learn about marine slightly salty tang from the seawater. We also learnt hood. In Japanese though, the birds are called There are some farms around the Swan Bay creatures. something new: the deep blue sections of the ocean is where zuguro-chidori, with zugoro written in the Kanji Tidal Flats. When it rains, the rainwater from the We saw so many different living creatures from the you’ ll find lots of seaweed growing. characters for head and black. It’ s interesting how farms flows into the ocean and the organic matter in Queenscliff foreshore, including lots of seagulls, squid eggs, There is a lot of seaweed and many broken-off pieces of the same bird is called a different name in the water affects the marine environment; it’ s one a kind of seaweed called sea lettuce that looks like the tree-like plants scattered around the foreshore, and this Japanese and English because of the diverse ways of the factors disrupting the ocean’ s biodiversity. wakame edible brown seaweed we have in Japan, sea vegetation provides a kind of hideaway for the living people think about things like names. When the tide So the locals had the clever idea to plant some sponges that look like an actual sponge, and sea apples from creatures there and a feeding ground for the birds. That's why was low, we could also see some small crabs and trees near the ocean’ s edge to absorb the the sea cucumber family. The squid eggs felt squishy to we observed the area carefully, so we wouldn’ t disrupt it. seagulls on the beach. rainwater and stop it from flowing into the ocean. The importance of doing what you can as soon as you can ～What we learnt at Geelong～ While seeing and touching the marine creatures at the Centre, Government also has extremely strict rules on what you can bring we also learnt there are several rules for taking good care of the into the country. This also includes dairy products, vegetables, fruits precious environment where many of these creatures live. and other items we use everyday. So we really need to be careful For example, each state in Australia has restrictions on the size about what we bring with us when entering Australia. and number of fish that you can catch and take home with you. I think we should learn from Australia’ s example and its The Centre has rulers for measuring the size of the fish and printed exhaustive rules to protect the natural environment, and do what stickers showing the types of fish you can catch. And in order to we can to protect the valuable nature and living creatures in protect the country’ s unique animals and plants, the Australian Nagoya.