Carry Up, Carry Down Program

Many national parks encourage visitors to “take nothing but photographs, and leave nothing but footprints.” Environmentalists around Daisen have come up with something a bit different: “Take a stone or a seedling, and bring down some sludge!”

Conservation has quite a long history on Daisen. Starting in the mid-1960’s, the mountain became a popular hiking destination. Visitors began to leave trash along the trails, and the mountain suffered severe erosion both from hikers and from wind and rain. In response, people who were worried about the situation started up the Society to Preserve Mt Daisen’s Summit. They encouraged hikers to bring along a seedling and a rock each time they climbed the mountain to help reverse the erosion problem, calling the project the “One tree, one rock campaign.”

Recently, volunteers have also started to help haul down sludge from the toilets at the summit rest area. If you’re interested in helping out with either project, contact the Daisen Nature and History Museum (0859-52-2327).