特定非営利活動法人アースウォッチ・ジャパン List of Products and Services

In various fields across the country, we conduct ecological surveys of endangered small animals and insects, and engage in basic research aimed at coexisting with forest animals and humans. We stay at university training facilities or guesthouses, with the duration of our stay on-site ranging from a day trip to about two nights and three days.

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The massive stone torsos (moai) that stand scattered across this remote Polynesian island have puzzled explorers for centuries. These statues, facing the vast ocean as if waiting for something, are silent witnesses to a vanished civilization. However, there is more that tells the story of the past beyond these giant heads. Volunteers have the opportunity to investigate the island's history to uncover what forces triggered a political or religious cataclysmic revolution here in the 17th century. Before the 17th century, the people of Easter Island cultivated this desolate island with innovative agricultural techniques and enjoyed peace and prosperity for a millennium. Volunteers collaborate with local archaeologist Sonia Haoa and Dr. Chris Stevenson to survey and excavate prehistoric settlement sites where lessons for the modern world lie dormant.

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Hot Springs, South Dakota, United States - On a winter afternoon 26,000 years ago, a teenage male Columbian mammoth stumbled at the edge of a hole while trying to find fresher grass, fell in, and sank to the muddy bottom. Over many years, this tragedy repeated itself until the death pit was eventually filled, preserving at least 100 mammoths in the pond. Their deaths went unnoticed as time passed, until in 1974, geologist Dr. Larry Agenbroad was asked to investigate tusks unearthed by a bulldozer. For more than 30 years, volunteers have assisted the doctor in the ongoing investigation of the world's largest natural burial site of Columbian mammoths. Volunteers from Earthwatch, who have participated in 24 seasons, have excavated over 55 mammoths, as well as fossils of camels, llamas, and the first wolves and giant short-faced bears from the northern central plains.

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Looking to the future, manta rays could become an excellent indicator species for monitoring environmental changes in the world's oceans and coral reefs, due to their global distribution and easily recognizable appearance. Global warming has caused significant changes in the state of the Earth's oceans. All changes, including shifts in sea temperature, ocean current patterns, and ocean acidification, could have dramatic effects on the distribution, migration, and behavior of manta rays, as well as on the coral reefs that support their lives. Investigating the relationship between manta ray distribution and migration and large-scale oceanic changes will help researchers monitor and assess the health of the oceans on our planet.

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Many of the ancient villages scattered in the remote countryside of Thailand possess sufficient size and complex structures to indicate that a sophisticated social structure, technology, and trade existed as early as 2000 BC. Historians often claim that the emergence of the magnificent Angkor civilization was due to external influences, particularly from India. However, Dr. Charles Higham and Dr. Nigel Chang from the University of Otago in New Zealand, along with Dr. Rakanie Sorasarat from the Thai Ministry of Culture, believe that previous scholars have underestimated the sophistication of indigenous cultures in Southeast Asia. Certainly, India witnessed the early development of a rich civilization and historically influenced neighboring countries like Cambodia and Thailand. However, can we say that Indian traders played a significant role in the origin of civilizations across Southeast Asia? The three scholars, Higham, Chang, and Sorasarat, are searching for clues about the indigenous cultures that existed in Southeast Asia before the spread of Indian influence.

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