Lake Shikotsu Clean-up Project Support Fund

NOTE: This is a support fundraiser running alongside Canoa's ActNow fundraiser.

Naoki Matsuzawa, lead guide and owner at Guidehouse Canoe on Lake Shikotsu, has launched an ambitious clean-up expedition around Lake Shikotsu and other waterways in the greater Chitose area. Here at the Hokkaido Wilds, we want to support that effort.

• Hokkaido Wilds has set up this GoGetFunding page to support Naoki in his crowd-funding efforts. That is to say, his campaign is on ActNow - Japanese-language only. Feel free to sign up for ActNow in Japanese, or donate on this GoGetFunding page in English.
  • Naoki's own fundraising page: https://actnow.jp/project/shikotsu-clean/ (Japanese-language only)
    • Google Translated: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Factnow.jp%2Fproject%2Fshikotsu-clean%2F
  • Note that Naoki's ActNow page offers rewards for donations.
• All funds gathered through this GoGetFunding page will be forwarded on to Canoa as they become available to withdraw - about five days after your donation. This is an all-in type of fundraiser: no need to hit the goal in order for your donation to get sent on to Naoki and his team.

Naoki's Motivation
Those who know Lake Shikotsu will know how inconceivably pristine it is. Crystal clear water, gorgeous sandy beaches - a true oasis so close to Sapporo and New Chitose Airport. Those who know the Japan outdoors will also know, however, the unfortunate extent of illegal dumping of waste. Even in beautiful areas such as the Shikotsu-Toya National Park. Naoki and his team have taken it upon themselves to make the most of their current downtime to invest in the cleanliness of the lake and surrounds.

Spring is usually the busiest time for Naoki and his small team of staff at Canoa, leading canoe tours on the pristine Lake Shikotsu, Chitose River, and more wild rivers in their prime spring-melt conditions. With a state-of-emergency in place in Hokkaido, however, Canoa has temporarily halted tours for the time being.

In true Dosanko fashion, Naoki has started to make the most of this current down-time. At during May, Naoki and his staff are working to dispose of eye-sore waste around the shores of Lake Shikotsu, Chitose River, and other areas within the greater Chitose area. Using their own expertise in canoeing, they'll also use their fleet of Canadian canoes to scout out difficult to retrieve waste along less accessible shorelines.

They're investing in the wilderness appeal of those amazing, wild areas we at Hokkaido Wilds love, so close to Hokkaido's largest city of Sapporo.

Naoki and his team has already embarked on multiple scouting tours, while they await the completion of the fundraising campaign - they'll use the funds to pay for garbage disposal, as well as commercial powerboats to move larger volume waste.

Hokkaido Wilds' Motivation
We're no stranger to seeing the extent of illegal dumping in the Hokkaido outdoors. We are impressed by Naoki's initiative in giving his and his staff's time to cleaning his backyard. Guidehouse Canoa has also supported Hokkaido Wilds in the past with our canoe route documentation project. We're happy we can support Canoa in their efforts here.

Location Scouting (May 5th, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe8gsMC5S0U

A Dry-Run (May 12th, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM5BX-emfhk

How funds will be used

• Staff activity cost 50,000 yen / day (5 staff members)
• Outsourcing fee to local guide 30,000 yen / day (about 2 people)
• Fuel cost 20,000 yen / day when using power boat
• Recycle garbage disposal cost approx. 15,000 yen (generally)
• Disposal cost for non-combustible and crushed waste 10,000 ye
• See more details on the original Japanese page - Google translated: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Factnow.jp%2Fproject%2Fshikotsu-clean%2F