Japan Wildlife Research Center

Our basic stance is to always be aware that we are a professional group for the conservation of the natural environment.

There was no such professional group until the early 1950s (late 1970s). Our center was established in 1978, when the antelope problem was causing public debate. The focus of the discussion was on the protection or population adjustment of the special natural monument antelope, which caused damage to the forestry industry. Our center estimates the number of mosquitoes nationwide based on the latest knowledge and data at that time, and based on that number, we reached an agreement between the Environment Agency (current Ministry of the Environment), the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and the Forestry Agency. The population adjustment of the camouflage has begun.

For 40 years since then, antelopes have been population-adjusted and monitored annually based on data. In addition, we have been actively involved in the planning, implementation, and analysis of the Basic Survey on Natural Environment Conservation (so-called Green National Census) that the Environment Agency has been conducting since 1973.

It was established as a foundation for the public interest in 1978, and at the time of the reform of the public interest corporation in 2008, it is a general incorporated foundation with a higher degree of freedom in order to realize the idea at the time of its establishment. In 2012, we moved to a general incorporated foundation, and as a professional group for the conservation of the natural environment, we basically propose policies on the coexistence of human society and nature based on scientific knowledge and data. We adhere to our philosophy. In that sense, the Center is not a for-profit company pursuing corporate profits, nor is it a nature conservation organization that develops conservation movements.

We believe that it is the role of this center to work hard as a professional group for the conservation of the natural environment and to contribute to solving environmental problems not only in Japan but also on a global scale.