Many remember COP3. The international environmental meeting took place in the beautiful surroundings of Kyoto's International Conference Center in the early autumn of 1997.

Whatever became of the decisions that were formalized there three years ago? The person in the street has yet to see any results.

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, at least, did make some important decisions as a result of COP3. They decided to start the ball rolling with their own "Furusato no Mori," or native forests program. The ministry wants to create "native forests using native trees," where space permits, around new post office buildings. To date 17 projects have begun or are near completion.

The concept of native landscape planting is relatively new to Japan, though it is already practiced in the United States and Europe. The Japanese planners, Akira Miyawaki and Kazue Fujiwara, both of Yokohama National University, have custom-designed the plan to suit climatic conditions of this country.

Miyawaki and Fujiwara have been campaigning for a number of years to use more native Japanese trees and shrubs in the landscape, especially in urban areas. They made a detailed survey of trees that grow in the various climatic zones throughout the Japanese archipelago and compiled a manual, "Furusato no Mori-Zukuri," on making a native forest.

Up and down the length of the country there are thousands of postage-stamp-sized parks in new towns and cities that basically look the same, no matter what part of the country you may be in. Before the ministry came along, though, no one planted native woodlands in cities. Even though we are in the information and dot-com age, this new-style thinking by a post office is unusual. How many other post offices around the world plant forests?

Other organizations in Japan have not yet started to use this natural style. After the Kobe earthquake there were literally thousands of landslides across Rokko Mountain, and many small dams or support walls were and are still being built to help lessen the effect of future landslides. The immediate area around these structures is planted with trees and wildflower seed mixes, using "carpets" wired to the soil surface containing natural grasses or flowers.

All this replanting is very good and necessary. Yet, in one such site I saw in May, there was only one species of tree, yama-momo (Myrica rubra), planted all in straight lines -- neither natural nor imaginative.

In the native forests manual it clearly sets out, in Japanese, what species of trees should be planted in a given area; how to prepare the ground before planting; how to manage new woodland. The idea is very simple; the plan is very carefully put together. The designers of new post office buildings use the manual to select tree species, make sure the soil is properly prepared for the new forest and so on.

The first such Furusato Woodland project was Nishi-Hashimoto post office in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, which opened in 1996. A total of 6,500 trees and shrubs were planted by a group of girls and boys from Asahi Junior High School -- a rare chance for the children to participate in planting trees in their own town. When they are older they can look proudly to the new woodland they helped to plant.

In July 1999 in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, another brand-new post office opened. Over 4,000 potted plants from 31 different species were planted in its new Furusato no Mori.

The planting is done in one smooth operation. Once it is done, the human contact with this young native woodland is minimal. No fertilizers, no chemical sprays of any type are recommended, no specialist gardeners in to prune the trees, no watering during the summer; except for the first one to two years, no weeding necessary.

The "Furusato no Mori" manual recommends the planting of young trees which have been raised in pots. The trees should be 2 years old, approximately 40-60 cm tall, and in healthy condition. (Small trees become established in their new environment much faster than taller trees.) Trees should not be planted in straight lines, but randomly, and close together, 50-60 cm apart.

Most of all, many different species are planted together. The mixture of tree species in a planting area is an important step toward creating a natural woodland. In confined spaces such as a car park, low-growing bushes should be planted along the edge, and medium and tall trees in the center. The same applies if there is a window in a building adjacent to the new natural woodland: Low plants are necessary to allow light to penetrate the building.

The young trees are planted in soil that has been mounded to give good drainage and air penetration for the roots. Straw matting is then used to cover the soil between the trees, stopping soil erosion and conserving moisture.

The close proximity at which the trees are planted worries some people, but there is no need. Some trees will naturally be dominant, growing healthy and strong, while others die out. A natural woodland contains stories, or layers; the overstory contains the tall trees, next comes the middle story and so on down to the understory of shrubs and herbs, the natural weeds and perennials that are found in woodlands.

In the post office's native woodlands 80-90 percent of the trees are broadleaf evergreens. No pine trees are included, perhaps because the pines, especially the Japanese red pine (akamatsu, Pinus densiflora), are being killed by matsukui-mushi, a pine weevil (Monochamus alternatus).

The reason for the high percentage of evergreen species is to have leaf cover all year round. Leaves help to clean the air, especially in cities where dust is all around us. A single row of trees can reduce dust by 25 percent or more. Trees help to reduce city noise; they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air by photosynthesis and respiration.

The post office's Furusato no Mori contain some attractive flowering trees such as the Japanese mountain cherry (yama-zakura, Prunus serrulata var. spontanea) and the yama-momo, which also bear edible red berries during the summer. A sign is posted (in Japanese) close to the woodland indicating the species planted.

Look out for unusual trees. In Takarazuka, for example, note the kago-no-ki (Actinodaphne lancifolia). This is an evergreen tree, only found in the warm parts of Japan, and is in the laurel family (Lauraceae). Mature trees can grow to 22 meters high!

For its new symbol tree the ministry has selected the lusterleaf holly (tarayo, Ilex latifolia). This evergreen is native to Honshu from Shizuoka Prefecture westward. The leaves are huge, like those of the southern magnolia (taisanboku, Magnolia grandiflora) -- up to 18 cm long and 8 cm wide. The upper surface is very glossy and the underside has a matte finish. The post office has coined the name "hagaki no ki" because you could write a short note on the reverse side of the leaves. In November the roundish berries turn red.

This symbol tree will be planted in front of new post office buildings where people can admire it. The holly will also be included in the Furusato no Mori; in Takarazuka there are 95 young trees in the natural woodland and five standard-size trees (each 3 meters tall) in front of the building.

If this column could give a prize to those who help to create a better environment, the first prize would be presented to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.