The Murodo area, which is popular with climbers and tourists.
14:54 JST, September 21, 2024
TOYAMA — There are many hikers who ignore trail etiquette in and around Murodo, the central hub of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in Tateyama-machi, Toyama Prefecture.
Nationally valuable flora and fauna live in Chubusangaku National Park, which includes Murodo. Their preservation cannot be achieved by strict rules and regulations alone, but depends on hikers being aware of etiquette, according to officials who are involved in the national park’s conservation.
(subheading) Law protects flora, fauna
“A father and his son carrying an insect net caught a bee and put it in a bag, and then put the bag in a bag,” said a report from the Alpine-Flora Preservation Patrol conducted by the Toyama District Forest Office.
The Ministry of Environment has urged hikers not to pick flowers and plants and not to catch insects and other animals in national parks.
When a ranger approached the couple, the father replied that the collection was for the “education of children.” Although he released the bee on the spot, the two began catching insects again shortly afterward.
The patrol led the parent and child to a nearby “Tateyama Nature Conservation Center” and convinced them to stop catching insects.
The Nature Parks Act divides national parks into three categories: (1) a special protection zone, (2) a special area and (3) a normal area.
In a special protection zone, the collection of any plant or animal species is prohibited. In a special area, designated fauna and flora may not be collected. The area near the Murodo Terminal, a station for cable cars and cable cars, is in a special protection zone.
Kenta Nakamori, a park ranger at the Tateyama Rangers’ Office, emphasizes the importance of the law, saying: “The basic premise is that ‘every area [within the national park] is not a place for people to catch insects for their own enjoyment.”
New problems
The entire Northern Alps region, with its many peaks, including the Tateyama Range, which is about 3,000 metres high, not only offers majestic views, but is also home to rare animals such as the ptarmigan and alpine flora.
The area, which spans four prefectures including Toyama, was designated a national park in 1934.
The forestry department began operations in the Tateyama area in 1972, following the full opening of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route in 1971. According to patrol reports from 1995, several hikers were seen eating their packed lunches and taking commemorative photographs in an area where delicate alpine plants grew.
Yuka Nakahara, a forest development officer at the Toyama District Forest Office, said: “We have rarely seen such scenes recently as we have continued to patrol the area and trekking etiquette has spread among hikers.”
In recent years new problems have arisen, such as the use of climbing sticks.
Normally, the part of the pole that touches the ground has rubber tips, but there have been cases of hikers and climbers who entered the area with poles without rubber tips. When the ground of the paths is repeatedly touched with such poles, the condition of the path can deteriorate, which can lead to damage to the vegetation.
On the website of the Ministry of the Environment you will find a list of activities that hikers are not allowed to do in the national park.
Nakahara said: “Recheck the trail rules before you go to a national park. The fauna and flora that live in high-altitude areas like Murodo-daira are vulnerable to damage, so we want people to always be aware that they need to protect them.”
