SAVE IKEGO FOREST
Using Computer Conferencing for International Collaboration
of Environmental Protection
by Izumi Aizu


Citizens and elected officials of Zushi, a small city 30 miles from Tokyo, recently used computer conferencing to help people around the world "link up" to find solutions to issues relating to environmental protection. The "Zushi Project" addressed a local situation, but the methods used there point to ways computer conferencing can be used to address global environmental concerns.

THE CHALLENGE
=============

Ikego Forest is one of the few tracts of forestland remaining inside the densely congested Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Used by the U.S. Navy as an underground ammunition depot for nearly 40 years, public access to Ikego has been prohibited, allowing the land's plant and wildlife to develop and flourish in an undisturbed natural environment.

Recently, the U.S. Navy asked the Japanese government to make lands available for the construction of 1,000 homes for Navy personnel working at Yokosuka Naval Base. The Japanese government responded with the proposal that Ikego Forest be used for this purpose--even though at least five alternative sites are available within 30 miles of the base.

Knowing that allocation of Ikego lands as a housing site for Navy personnel would destroy the forest, the citizens of Zushi banded together and formed an impressive movement to oppose the proposal. The citizens' initial efforts were successful: the
mayor was forced to resign and the citizen-based group won the local elections and installed their own mayor, Kiichiro Tomino.

But the battle was not won, since Japan's central and prefectural government would make the final decision regarding Ikego's fate. It would take an outpouring of public opinion to stop the project, and one particular method of expressing public opinion--the "Written Opinion"--plays a key role in official procedures relating to the preparation and submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Since an Environmental Impact Assessment may contain the opinions and concerns of *any* individual regardless of nationality or location, the citizens of Zushi organized a domestic and international campaign to ask their friends to send written opinions about why Ikego Forest should be preserved. The citizens hoped to obtain as many as 100,000 opinions in support of their position.

Obtaining domestic opinions in support of the Save Ikego movement proved relatively easy. Obtaining opinions from around the world posed a greater challenge. A challenge that computer conferencing and networking helped solve.

HOOKING UP
==========

As the end of the Save Ikego campaign approached, an Apple IIe, communications software, and an acoustic coupler were installed in the Mayor of Zushi's living room. A voluntary project team was organized to prepare appeals, a personal message from the mayor, and a list of 108 species of birds inside the forest. These documents were then transmitted over the "nets." First to the Meta Network. Then to Unison. Then to Parti on the Source.

The first overseas "written opinion" arrived within days. It was from Billye Lemon, wife of a U.S. Army Colonel. It was just what the citizens of Zushi had hoped to receive:

I would not want to create poor relations because of
construction of housing for the military and their
families... One must look beyond the immediate needs
with much broader vision... When by chance a part has
been preserved which remains in its natural state,
then these special places we need to *treasure*...for
future generations.

More warm and supportive responses followed, making the efforts of the volunteers--virtually all of whom were tackling the intricacies and eccentricities of packet switching, uploading, downloading, log-on sequences, etc., for the first time-- worthwhile. The fact that the people of Zushi were also organizing and moderating conferences in a foreign language makes their achievements even more remarkable!

NETWORKING AND A REUNION
========================

The work wasn't all "work"! The volunteers had fun, too, as they explored the online global community. Mitsuyo Sawa, a 44- year-old housewife recalls, "Making contacts through electronic networks was very exciting, and I personally enjoyed it very much. I found an alumna of my Catholic High School--Sacred Heart--on Meta Network, too!"

In her opinion, Jill Herndon, Mrs. Sawa's Sacred Heart schoolmate said,

In my experience growing up on the base as the
daughter of an officer, base housing traditionally
lacks in attention to nature, aesthetics, or any sense
of culture or community. I lived in Yokosuka Navy
Base housing in 1959 and 1960 and I have to say it
looked like a military parade ground with buildings
stuck on it... I ask you to look into other options
for providing additional housing of Americans... There
must be a way to use the opportunity of having
foreigners in your country to also introduce them to
the beauty of your culture and your spiritual
heritage.

With three weeks of the deadline for receipt of written opinions to be submitted to the Japanese government, close to two dozen additional online opinions were received in Zushi. It was not as many letters as the citizens had hoped to receive. Still, the *quality* of the letters made quite an impact. The letter of well-known online journalist Mike Greenly was typical of the deep concern members of the online community brought to the issues of the Save Ikego movement:

I will tell you the truth: I don't think about that
[Planet Earth] very often! Most of the time the
"geography" that concerns me is simply the apartment I
pay rent on, the offices of clients for whom I
consult, and the homes of the people who read my
journalism.

Mostly, to be very honest about it, I take our
environment pretty much for granted... There are so
many other matters that more urgently press in on my
attention and consciousness.

And, yet I care about Ikego Forest...

I realize that Ikego Forest has become an extremely
precious sanctuary for nature...once destroyed it will
never be restored. There are many, many, many--so
many--housing projects on this planet. There is only
one Ikego Forest.


SUCCESS!
========

When all was said and done, the citizens of Zushi received more than 100,000 letters from their domestic supporters. An additional 700 letters from around the world were received through both the electronic and human network. That's an extremely satisfactory and encouraging showing!

The Save Ikego campaign demonstrated that organizing online communities to support environmental concerns can be done! Still, obstacles and challenges must be met in order for this form of grass roots movement to take hold: technological, cultural and linguistic barriers, and economic issues ($500 to $1000 for international telephone and network connect charges) must be addressed. Psychological and social elements must be considered, as well.

The online phase of the Save Ikego movement stands as one of the first attempts to use computer conferencing to contact and connect a global electronic community in support of environmental concerns. In some ways it was an experiment. But it was also much more. The online experience gave the people of Zushi a sure passage to future collaboration that not only makes the world smaller, but makes it more beautiful for all of us, too. Mrs. Sawa speaks for all of us when she says:

I feel this medium has a tremendous power for grass
root citizens in the world...especially for anti-
nuclear weapon and disarmament issues. It is the very
direct voices that we can exchange that can make for a
very strong relationship and collaboration that
extends beyond oceans, time and national borders.
Thank you all the people who responded, supported and
watched.


(NOTE: The conference "SAVE IKEGO" can still be found on Unison and The Source. Please have a look if you haven't read it.)