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Lake Biwa or
Biwa-ko, is a large fresh water body of water just
north-west of
Kyoto and
Osaka,
Japan.
Because of its proximity to the ancient capital, Biwako
is often referenced in literature, poetry, and as a reference point for
historical battles.
Lake Biwa is located in
Shiga in Japan. It is the largest lake in Japan. The area of this lake
is about 670km2. It is same size as Awaji-shima. There are rivers that run
to other prefectures and it used for drinking water. About 15million people
get their drinking water from Lake Biwa. However, unfortunately Lake Biwa is
getting dirty lately. So there are some laws that keep the lake clean. Other
problem is that foreign fish called "black bass" have begun to destroy the
ecosystem in the lake. Lake Biwa is one of the most ancient lakes in the
world. It was born about 4million years ago. There are only about 10 ancient
lakes in the world. This lake has about 1100 kinds of living things. There
are about 58 kinds of living things that live only in Lake Biwa. Lake Biwa
is important place for water birds. About 5 thousand water birds visit Lake
Biwa every year.
 The treaty for Lake Biwa that Shiga prefecture has
- The treaty to prevent eutrophication
This was enacted in 1981 and first
enforced on July 1, 1982; therefore, this day is called �the day of Lake
Biwa�. The characteristic of the treaty is that local government established
the standard of draining of nitrogen and phosphorus. They also banned from
people using and selling synthetic detergents that include phosphorus. As a
result, synthetic detergent was changed into �No phosphorus detergent�. On
the other hand, people are seldom using soap that was temporarily popular in
Japan.
The formal name is �the treaty about
internationally precious marsh where especially the water birds range� This
treaty was adopted at Ramsar in Iran in 1971. The object of this treaty is
to plan the protection and sensible use of internationally precious marsh.
Mainly, the marsh Kushiro in Japan is registered in this treaty now.
- The treaty to protect reed colony
The reed colony on shore forms the
scenery in Lake Biwa and has been used as bamboo blind. It is said that they
play an important role in purifying water as habitats of birds and fish.
However, once, there was a lerge of reed colony in shore on Lake Biwa, they
suddenly decreased because of development. In later surveys, local
governments proved they decreased by half. The object of this treaty was
established to protect, grow, and utilize reed colony and has been enforced
since 1992.
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