When a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the devastating tsunami that followed struck Japan's north-eastern coast in March 2011, entire towns were swept away, nearly 20,000 people were killed or went missing, and vast stretches of coastline were left in ruins. In the years since, Japan has invested billions of yen in massive concrete seawalls, but another, less conventional form of protection has also taken root. Across the country's Pacific coast, volunteers have planted more than 680,000 native trees as part of the Chinju no Mori Project, an ambitious effort inspired by ancient "guardian forests" that seeks to complement engineered defences by restoring natural coastal ecosystems capable of reducing tsunami impacts.
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