Japan Nature Conservation Award 2026 honours six regional projects

The Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACS-J) has selected six recipient organisations for the 12th Japan Nature Conservation Award 2026. A judging panel assessed 72 applications from across Japan for the 2026 awards across three main categories, evaluating entries on regional engagement, continuity, technical foresight, collaboration and social impact.

In the Conservation Practice category, the Non-Profit Organisation Fujimae Tidal Flat Conservation Association received the top prize for halting a municipal landfill project in Aichi Prefecture in 1999, which led to sweeping local waste reduction policies and Ramsar wetland accreditation. Non-Profit Organisation Groundwork Mishima took the Education and Awareness Award for 34 years of community-led river restoration across 75 sites in Shizuoka Prefecture, reversing water degradation that began during industrial expansion in the 1960s.

The Children and Students Award went to the Forest Green Tree Frog Conservation Society at Nishinomiya Municipal Yamaguchi Junior High School in Hyogo Prefecture for restoring communal irrigation ponds and monitoring amphibian populations. Kyushu University’s Laboratory of River Basin System Engineering received the Makoto Numata Special Award for its work across more than 30 river systems since 2003, including a concrete-removal project on Fukuoka Prefecture’s Kamisaigo River that tripled local fish species counts and increased individual fish numbers elevenfold.

Two additional initiatives received the Selection Committee Special Award. In Osaka Prefecture, lifestyle product company I-ne, the Iwasaka Neighbourhood Association, Hachibuseyama Forest Creation Association and the Osaka Prefecture Forestry Cooperative were commended for regenerating typhoon-damaged communal woodland containing over 300 species. In Hyogo Prefecture, NPO Tanada Lovers was recognised for reviving 23 abandoned terraced rice paddies without agricultural chemicals, where 2025 field surveys recorded 73 plant species compared to 25 in unmanaged fields.

The society also awarded honourable mentions to six regional projects, including coastal marine litter recovery in Ehime Prefecture, digital deer-deterrent systems in Tottori Prefecture, and seagrass bed restoration in Kagoshima Prefecture.