Students Enjoy Greening School Rooftop as Memory of Graduation

Matsuba Primary School in Taito Ward of Metropolitan Tokyo completed greening its rooftop (285 square meters) at the end of March 2009. The green area comprises lawn, gardens and a biotope (a small ecological area). Twenty-five students on the cusp of graduation in March planted 30 pots of rosaceous plants with their teachers and students representing lower grades on February 24. The Rhaphiolepis Enchantress evergreen shrubs produce white or rose-pink five-petaled flowers around May.

"We want the children to feel and appreciate greenery, and to remain interested in environmental issues such as global warming," said the principal, hoping that the greening would have an educational effect on the graduates while giving them good memories.

Since 2003, Taito Ward, with a limited green area, has been actively promoting the greening of its building rooftops, walls and verandas as a countermeasure for global warming and the urban heat island effect. The primary school is the tenth facility in the ward to have greened its building. The ward plans to continue its systematic greening scheme in fiscal 2009 and beyond.

Efforts in Japan to Mitigate the Urban Heat Island Effect No.73 (September 2008)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/
027856.html
Nagoya Launches System to Certify Green Developments (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/027178.html

Posted: 2009/06/22 06:00:15 AM