Coexistence between Humans and Sand Dunes

Afforestation turned Sand Dunes to Grassland

The Tottori Sand Dunes were left untouched as natural sand until 1945 when World War II ended. Massive tree planting – afforestation – began after the end of the war.

From 1948, after World War II, Tottori prefecture tried to prevent the movement of the sand and develop the dunes into farmland to protect the village, and afforestation was started. The protection forests performed their functions, and the movement of sand was greatly controlled.

However, as the sand in the dunes stopped moving, plants gradually covered dunes and turned to grassland.

In 1972, a part of the dune protection forest was cut down to restore the original landscape of the dunes. However, sufficient effects were not obtained, and the protection forest was removed again. As a result, the movement of sand due to the seasonal wind was recognized, but it was not able to prevent the invasion of foreign species, and these species replace the original plant of the dune.

In the Tottori Sand Dunes around 2000, weeds covered the ground and pine trees grew. There are records that reeds and willows have grown to a height of 2m.

History of Weeding

The efforts to restore the beautiful sand dunes has started. Nature conservation groups carried out weeding and spraying herbicides around 1985, then after that Tottori Prefecture, Tottori City, and Fukube Village launched publicly funded weeding projects in 1994.

Volunteer Weeding

Since 2004, we have started Volunteer Weeding to restore the original beauty of the sand dunes in cooperation with the local citizens.

Volunteer Weeding is held in the early morning and evening of every summer.

In 2017, more than 8,000 volunteers have participated.

Cleanup Activities

Since 1980, the Tottori Sand Dunes Cleanup Committee has been carrying out cleanup activities with the support of the local citizens and businesses every spring and autumn.

At the 63rd cleanup day on September 25, 2011, approximately 3,500 people from 85 organizations participated and 1 ton of trash was collected from the dunes.

Adopt program

To establish the activities of Volunteer Weeding to the citizen level and to make volunteer weeding efforts to be continuous activities, we have introduced an adopt program (a system to take responsibility for certain areas like foster parents) since 2006.

At present, many business organizations and individuals are participating in this system.