On May 16, as part of its nature conservation efforts, Canon implemented its latest environmental conservation activity, the Tama River Project Part I. The event took place on the Tama River in Hamura City, Tokyo.

Canon's environmental conservation program, inaugurated in 2006, enables employees and their families to learn the importance of biodiversity by communing with nature. This is the sixth time the activity has been held; it has taken place previously in places like Mount Takao, Mitake, the Yokohama Nature Sanctuary, and Ikegami Honmonji Park.

This year's program, entitled the "Tama River Project," is being conducted in partnership with the C&P Support Center, a non-profit organization (NPO). It involves three separate observation tours of the Tama River basin - first its upper reaches in Hamura City, then its middle reaches in Komae City, and its lower reaches in Ota Ward. A total of 26 employees and family members took place in the first trip, to the Tama River's upper section.

The participants first visited the Hamura Intake Weir and the Tamagawa Aqueduct, both of which are of considerable historical value. They then proceeded to the riverside to begin their observation of nature. Wading into the river, they collected a variety of aquatic animals, the features of which were explained to them by an expert from the NPO. The group also learned about the Tama River's water flow and functions. Next they got to experience water quality testing using test kits. From both the diversity of wildlife and the results of scientific testing, kids were able to observe firsthand how uncontaminated the waters of the upper Tama River actually are.

"Usually I just pass by a river without a second thought, but this experience made me realize how in fact rivers are teeming with life," one participant remarked afterwards. "It made me recall how I felt observing nature when I was a child." As always, the program was an opportunity for participants to take a second look at the nature all around them.