Humus technology for preventive and post-disaster land conservation in disaster

Artificially manufactured humus materials, a humic substance that forms in soil after plant matter decays in nature, are beneficial to managing slopes and preventing disasters in public infrastructure projects. Recently, humus technology was used in national roadside slope stabilization works in Kagoshima prefecture and Kyoto prefecture. Furthermore, this technology was used to improve the water environment of enclosed coastal seas in Mie prefecture under the Environmental Technology Verification program of Ministry of the Environment. To date, we have utilized humus material:

• to accelerate plant growth on slopes for landslide prevention;
• brown field desalinization; recovery of tsunami-flooded agricultural fields;
• reforestation after fires;
• recovery of degraded forests and closed water systems;
• contributing to sustainable development;
• and overall increase in resilience in Japan and Asia.