Volunteers join efforts to preserve scenic highland moor in Oita

Aug. 30, 2012

Volunteerｓ join efforts to preserve scenic highland moor in Oita

Bogatsuru is a highland moor on a basin surrounded by the Kuju Mountains in the western part of Oita Prefecture, Kyushu, southwestern Japan. The 53-hectare moor is also one of the 47 internationally protected wetlands under the Ramsar Convention in Japan.
In early spring, local people burn off dead grass to preserve the floras in Bogatsuru, but they are not the only persons who maintain the ecological system in the area, which has an elevation of about 1,200 meters. Citizens volunteer to pick up introduced species mainly in summer so that inherent species in the moor may not be expelled by foreign plants.
“We come here a few times in the summer season to remove introduced species,” a volunteer said while working in the grass with his friend. Their efforts make it possible for hikers and campers to enjoy the beauty of wild azalea, gentian, dandelion, polygonum and other small flowers in the moor throughout the year, except the winter when the surrounding areas are covered with snow.
Foreign species, actually seeds, are carried in mainly by being stuck to visitors’ clothes and shoes. "Because they (introduced species) can spread quickly, they have to be eliminated to preserve the original plant community here,” the volunteer said.
The Bogatsuru moor is watered by Naruko River, which meanders through the wetland north to south. The river is one of the headwaters of Chikugo River which cultures broad farming areas in the northern part of Kyushu . Wood trails extend to both sides from a main road in the middle of the moor, enabling people to have a close look at the floras there.
The natural beauty of Bogatsuru is depicted in a song which had been originally sung among mountaineers. The moor became famous across the country in the 1970s when the song was nationally aired on TV.

When everyone is charmed by spring flowers,
the woodsman enters the mountain
longing for the remaining snow.
Then he sheds tears and
sees melted snow that tells him the arrival of spring.
(A personal translation)

Hokkein Spa Sanso is a mountain villa which stands on the northwestern edge of the basin. The building, which becomes a "base camp" for those climbing the Kuju Mountains, has about 20 guestrooms, but its hall can be converted to accommodate up to 120 people when the rooms are occupied.
An employee at the villa, in his 30s, was repairing the base of the signboard built in front of the villa. Topsoil around the signboard was washed away by heavy rain in July, he said. “We will restore the base and the signboard, but we also hope to place big, stone-made mountain climbing boots as an object here to better welcome mountaineers,” he said.