References
The diverse differences among and within species that all living things possess, and the relationships among them. Biodiversity is broadly considered at three levels: (1) genetic diversity, (2) species diversity, and (3) ecosystem diversity. Reference: Column “What is biodiversity?” / Nature Positive Portal / Ministry of the Environment website
In sea areas and the like, the capacity and rate at which plankton, seagrasses, fish and shellfish grow and multiply. It is influenced by conditions such as nutrients, light, water temperature and sediment, and is directly linked to fishing-ground catches and biodiversity. Reference: Site Selection For Aquaculture: BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTIVITY OF WATER BODIES (FAO, 1987)
Refers to places on the coastal seabed where various seagrasses and seaweeds form communities. There are eelgrass beds formed mainly by seagrasses such as eelgrass (seed plants), and “garamo” beds formed mainly by seaweeds classified as algae, such as Sargassum, kelp and wakame. Reference: EIC Net
Sandy-muddy areas that basically emerge and submerge twice a day. They often develop in calm inlets and bays little affected by waves, where rivers that supply sand and mud flow in. Because nutrients are supplied and accumulated from both land and sea, they play an important role as feeding grounds for organisms and in water purification. Reference: “What are tidal flats?” / Setouchi Net / Ministry of the Environment website
Carbon that marine ecosystems, including coastal ones, take up through photosynthesis and that is subsequently stored on the seabed or in the deep sea. Major sinks of blue carbon include seagrass and seaweed beds, salt marshes and tidal flats, and mangrove forests. Reference: “What is blue carbon?” / Ministry of the Environment website
Refers to areas where conservation is achieved through the efforts of the private sector and others, and areas where management not aimed at conservation nevertheless contributes as a result to protecting the natural environment. (Positioning of OECMs in the Basic Policy for Nature Conservation.) Reference: Reference Material 6 “Overview and status of consideration of OECMs” / 2nd Nature Restoration Experts Meeting of FY2021 / Ministry of the Environment website
| Check items | Check | |
| Step 01 Preparation | ||
| 1 | Set the activity area and scope. In doing so, confirm accessible areas and constraints | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Collect literature, statistics, past survey results, etc., and grasp the current situation. | |
| 3 | Organize the survey results, estimate required personnel, and extract and organize the issues | |
| 4 | Set survey items regarding the natural environment, social environment, local resources, measures of government and neighboring municipalities, and stakeholders | |
| 5 | Conduct on-site surveys (on-site water-quality measurement, biological observation, etc.) | |
| 6 | Conduct interview surveys with local residents and fishers to gather information from local people | |
| 7 | Compile the survey results and create a list of the current natural and social situation and issues | |
| 8 | Share the survey results and issues with stakeholders, and organize points of agreement and issues | |
| Step 02 Goal setting and planning | ||
| 9 | Discuss and clarify with stakeholders the future vision the community should aim for | |
| 10 | Set concrete, quantitative goals (KGI/KPI) as far as possible | |
| 11 | Organize the activities required for the project plan | |
| 12 | As the project plan, decide the schedule of the activity plan and the implementation structure | |
| 13 | Consider fundraising methods and prepare a draft funding plan | |
| 14 | Hold a stakeholders' meeting to have stakeholders confirm the prepared goals and plan and obtain approval | |
| Step 03 Implementation of Satoumi creation | ||
| 15 | Discuss and clarify with stakeholders the future vision the community should aim for | |
| 16 | Set concrete, quantitative goals (KGI/KPI) as far as possible | |
| 17 | Organize the activities required for the project plan | |
| 18 | As the project plan, decide the schedule of the activity plan and the implementation structure | |
| 19 | Consider fundraising methods and prepare a draft funding plan | |
| Step 04 Monitoring | ||
| 20 | Decide monitoring items corresponding to the KGI and KPIs | |
| 21 | Conduct regular monitoring of water quality, organisms, etc., and record the measurement data | |
| 22 | Collect and organize the monitoring results and visualize the progress | |
| 23 | Regularly analyze the monitoring data and evaluate the plan's progress and the degree of goal achievement | |
| 24 | Share the monitoring results and adjust the activity methods as necessary | |
| Step 05 Evaluation and review | ||
| 25 | Tabulate and analyze the results based on the evaluation indicators (KPIs) | |
| 26 | Share the evaluation results with stakeholders through reports and results-presentation meetings | |
| 27 | Organize the achievement status and clarify the results, unachieved items and new issues | |
| 28 | Based on the evaluation results, revise and update the plan and goals as necessary | |
| 29 | Reflect the insights gained from the evaluation in the activity plans for the following fiscal year onward | |
| Category | Survey item | Recommendation 1 | Recommendation 2 | Recommendation 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural environment | Location, area, shape, etc. of seagrass beds, tidal flats, salt marshes, etc. | |||
| Status of human intervention in seagrass beds, tidal flats, salt marshes, etc. (physical: seabed tilling, raising the ground, etc.; biological: seeding/transplanting, aquaculture, release of seedlings, etc.) | ||||
| Seagrass beds: distribution, shoot density, coverage, wet weight, species composition, water temperature, ground elevation, sand-surface fluctuation, Shields number, coastal transparency (regional environmental standard), underwater photon flux, sediment grain-size composition, competing seaweeds, epiphytic organisms, etc. | ||||
| Tidal flats: number of species, number of individuals, wet weight, water temperature, ground elevation, sand-surface fluctuation, sediment grain-size composition, ignition loss, etc. | ||||
| Water-quality status (nutrients, transparency, bottom-layer DO, etc.) | ||||
| Sediment status (grain-size distribution, sulfides, oxidation-reduction potential, etc.) | ||||
| Topographic and geological status | ||||
| Seawater temperature, depth, currents (waves, tides), and status of drifting and stranded litter | ||||
| Biota (species, number of individuals, status of rare and invasive species, etc.) | ||||
| Connections among forests, villages, rivers and the sea, and with adjacent sea areas (inflow/outflow loads, etc.) | ||||
| Carbon storage by seagrass beds and tidal flats (blue carbon amount) | ||||
| Social environment | Land-use status and coastal-development status (reclamation, dredging, port works, etc.) | |||
| History | ||||
| Regional characteristics | ||||
| Industrial structure | ||||
| Demographic trends | ||||
| Cultural resources (history, traditions, culture (scenic and historic sites, origins of place names, food culture, traditional fishing methods, festivals and events, etc.) | ||||
| Status of activity groups, etc. in the surrounding area | ||||
| Local resources | Status of existence | |||
| Methods of utilization | ||||
| Status of resource circulation (use of thinned wood and brushwood, dredged soil, slag, etc.) | ||||
| Tourism resources: number of tourists, tourism revenue | ||||
| Fishery resources: catch volume, fishery income | ||||
| Local economy: sales status of specialty products, local-production-for-local-consumption rate, etc. | ||||
| Status of community development | ||||
| Content, number of sessions, and number of participants of ocean education in the community | ||||
| Status of securing human resources (on-site implementers, translators, coordinators, etc.) and the status and plans of human-resource development | ||||
| Measures of government and neighboring municipalities, etc. | Environmental plans and ordinances | |||
| Measures related to fisheries, tourism, etc. | ||||
| The government's activities to date | ||||
| Stakeholders | Status of stakeholders (number of people, number of organizations, status of collaboration, collaboration plans, etc.) | |||
| Whether consensus-building was carried out, and the number of promotion councils, etc. established | ||||
| Number of participants in events and training |
As guides for communities and stakeholders working on Satoumi creation, please make use of the “Satoumi Creation Guidebook (Revised Edition),” revised by the Ministry of the Environment in March 2026, as well as the recommendations indicating the future direction of Satoumi creation and the guide for evaluating the conservation and restoration of seagrass beds and tidal flats. You can download the PDFs below.
- Satoumi Creation Guidebook (Revised Edition, March 2026)
- Recommendations on the Future of Satoumi Creation (March 2025)
- Guide for Evaluating the Conservation and Restoration of Seagrass Beds and Tidal Flats toward Satoumi Creation in the Reiwa Era (March 2025)
- Satoumi Creation Guidebook (March 2011)
Here we compile materials such as Satoumi creation readers and casebooks, Satoumi reconstruction plans, activity-status surveys, pamphlets, and materials on the international expansion of Satoumi creation. You can view them on the page below.
- “Satoumi Creation Guidebook,” revised March 2026 (Ministry of the Environment, 2026)
- “Satoumi Creation Guidebook” (Ministry of the Environment, 2011)
- “Guide to Satoumi Reconstruction Plans” (Ministry of the Environment, 2014)
- “Guide for Evaluating the Conservation and Restoration of Seagrass Beds and Tidal Flats toward Satoumi Creation in the Reiwa Era” (Ministry of the Environment, 2025)
- “Manual for Preparing Seagrass-Bed Distribution Maps” (Ministry of the Environment, 2021)
- “Restoration of Manila Clam Resources and Conservation and Restoration of Suitable Habitats for Mother Clams (Report of the Ariake Sea, etc. Comprehensive Investigation and Evaluation Committee)” (Ministry of the Environment, 2019)
- “Guidelines for Setting Coastal Transparency Targets” (Ministry of the Environment, 2018)
- “Guide to Community-Led Environmental Improvement of Enclosed Coastal Seas” (Ministry of the Environment, 2018)
- “Guidelines for the Natural Restoration of Eelgrasses” (Fisheries Agency, 2007)
- “Guide to Wide-Area Seagrass-Bed Monitoring” (Fisheries Agency, 2021)
- “Guide to Effective and Continuous Seagrass-Bed Monitoring” (Fisheries Agency, 2024)
- “Recommendations on the Future of Satoumi Creation,” 2025, Study Group on the Future of Satoumi Creation
- “Handbook of Marine Nature Restoration — Planning, Technology and Practice, Vol. 1: General Remarks,” 2007, Ports and Harbours Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
- “Nature Restoration of the Seashore through Adaptive Management,” 2007, Ports and Harbours Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
- “Guide to Creating a Regional Circular and Ecological Sphere — The Community Takes the Lead! Environmental Community Development We Work on Together,” 2024, Regional Circular and Ecological Sphere Promotion Office, Regional Policy Division, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of the Environment
- Seagrass Restoration Handbook: Gamble et al. (2021)Nature-based solutions for seagrass restoration in the UK and Ireland, Zoological Society of London.
- “Guide to Formulating Basic Plans for Coastal Conservation (Revised Edition, March 2022),” 2022, Coast Office, Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
- “Guidelines for Implementing Regional Revitalization Projects,” revised March 2021, Cabinet Office; Cabinet Secretariat / Cabinet Office comprehensive site “Machi-Hito-Shigoto”
- “Opinions from Stakeholders toward the Review of the Basic Policy for Nature Restoration,” 2024, Nature Conservation Planning Division, Nature Conservation Bureau, Ministry of the Environment
- “On the Status of Nature Restoration Projects Nationwide,” 2017, Nature Conservation Planning Division, Nature Conservation Bureau, Ministry of the Environment
- “Development and Securing of Marine Human Resources and Promotion of Public Understanding in the 4th Basic Plan on Ocean Policy,” 2025, Cabinet Office, materials of the 2nd “Japan Learning-Sea Platform” meeting