Securing high-quality bamboo is vital in raising pandas. Back in 1994, our park had fewer pandas, and their diet centered more on specially made panda food than bamboo, so the area around Shirahama provided enough bamboo to cover our needs. However, since 2000 we have seen more success with panda breeding and shifted to a more bamboo-centric diet, and as such have had to find new sources for the bamboo we require. In 2005 we secured new locations to harvest bamboo by establishing a cooperative relation with Kishiwada, a city which worked to maintain its bamboo groves. At present we feed our pandas eight tons of bamboo branches and leaves each year, which helps the maintenance of bamboo groves and conservation of mountain environments. However, we also face a problem with the waste left behind from bamboo the pandas do not or cannot eat. The Panda Bamboo Project is an initiative which seeks to solve this waste problem. This project aims to protect local mountains by turning the bamboo from what ravages the forest into food for pandas and also solve issues our society faces by upcycling the waste bamboo which pandas cannot or do not eat, as well as panda’s excrement, into useful resources.

Utilizing bamboo resources and creating forests which conserve biodiversity in Kishiwada

Since 2011 we have an agreement with the city of Kishiwada in Osaka Prefecture to secure bamboo from the hilly regions of the municipality, utilizing it as food for our pandas. In 2020 this agreement was upgraded into the SDGs Partnership Agreement (also known as the "Panda Agreement"), which aims to create a recycling-centric system effectively making use of the bamboo left over by our pandas. In 2022, as part of the Adopt-a-Forest program in which businesses can take part in environmental conservation efforts, we signed an Adopt-a-Forest Agreement in which we pledge to make effective use of the bamboo groves of Kishiwada (recycling waste from our bamboo resources) and create forests which preserve biodiversity.

Kishiwada-Shirahama-AWS Co., LTD (Adventure World) Panda Bamboo Smile Agreement for Wide-area Comprehensive Partnership

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• To promote revitalization of mutual regional exchanges in a wide range of fields, and with the aim of bringing smiles throughout the region by the co-creation which utilizes the resources and strengths of both public and private entities, Kishiwada City in Osaka Prefecture, Shirahama Town in Wakayama Prefecture, and AWS Co., LTD (Adventure World) concluded the Panda Bamboo Smile Agreement for Wide-area Comprehensive Partnership in August, 2022. We have started a project which prospectively utilizes panda bamboo in initiatives for the mutual exploitation of local resources and the formation of regional ecological cycles.

• Panda Bamboo Tumbler

  

  This re-usable cup is made by upcycling bamboo waste left over by our pandas. This "Forest Tumbler" was jointly developed by Asahi Beer and Panasonic as part of efforts to reduce the use of single-use plastics.

• Panda Bamboo Mobile Workation Spot

  

  These natural bamboo-made mobile workation spots in Safari World are designed and built in collaboration with Toki Hirokazu's lab at the University of Shiga Prefecture. Branches and leaves of bamboo from Kishiwada are fed to the pandas, and the trunks and other parts they do not or cannot eat are used as materials to create these structures.

• Bamboo Crafts and Panda Bamboo
  Collaborative Works

  

  Traditional bamboo craftspeople in Kyoto, along with students from the Traditional Arts School of Kyoto, sell bamboo rings and offer workshops. These events provide opportunities to reflect on bamboo's role in our culture as well as social issues we face today. The lineup of merchandise will also be expanded in the future.

• Bamboo Lanterns Bringing Smiles

  

  These lanterns are made from bamboo trunks which pandas do not consume, and provide soft, warm light to the park at night. Efforts to create these lanterns brought staff, guests, and people of the community together. The lanterns have also been a driving force in promoting efforts, with a growing number of hotels also putting them on display.

• Nanki Shirahama Panda Bamboo Expo

  

  An art and innovation event which brought the whole region together was held from December 2020 to January 2021 to show the world how this "panda town" was going to use panda bamboo to create a new future. Bamboo and panda artwork was exhibited at major locations throughout Shirahama during these art sessions. During the symposium, bamboo researchers, architects, and artists spoke about the value and possibilities bamboo offers for our future.