Our Planet Earth Project

A new project for geoparks was recently begun, initiated by Hagi Geopark in Yamaguchi Prefecture and collaborated on by geoparks across Japan. Called "Our Planet Earth Project," it aims to provide 10-30 minute videos of natural scenery with its sights and sounds, making them available on YouTube with as little editing as possible. The Oki Islands UNESCO Global Geopark has participated as well; our first video showed the scenery overlooking Saigō Bay on Dōgo Island.

A number of geoparks have collaborated, uploading various videos of their geosites and other scenery. These videos, along with brief explanations, are compiled on the following website, "Our Planet Earth Project: Video Database of Geological Heritage."

https://sites.google.com/view/ourplanetearthproject/home?authuser=0

Left: Home page; Right: Map of filmed locations

With measures to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, many people have been confined to their homes and cannot travel around freely. In light of this, we hope this project can be a way for people to come in contact with nature even a little. So far, we have submitted four videos from the Oki Islands. Please give them a look!

The project began in Japan, but it has been expanded to invite other geoparks in the Asia Pacific region and around the world to participate in the efforts. Soon we will be able to see videos not only from Japan but from overseas as well. Efforts are being made toward applications of this project even after the pandemic situation is resolved, so please look forward to its further development.