♦Biodiversity Preservation Zone

The area surrounding the New Campus is fortunate in that natural areas such as farms and forests remain. As a buffer zone between the surrounding area and buildings constructed on the New Campus, green areas around the campus are conserved and effort is made to harmonize the settled environment with the natural environment. In addition to working to protect and utilize such green areas, the university is also working to restore those damaged by construction. Furthermore, along with conservation of clusters of notable plants in old evergreen broadleaf secondary forests and planted forests of Japanese cypress, the wetlands to the west of the Sainokami spring, an important water source for the area, are protected as a "biodiversity preservation zone" in an effort to protect diverse species and connect ecosystems. The biodiversity preservation zone strives to protect important species such as the charophytes, nardoo, clouded salamanders, Hesperocorixa distanti hokkensis, and Japanese fireflies, as well as other plants and animals. Many relics attest to the fact that the area surrounding the New Campus has been the site of flourishing human dwellings since ancient times.