The government has for years been covering riverbanks across the country with concrete in an effort to control the course of the nation's waterways.

Faced with mounting concern over the environment, however, the government is rethinking its "river improvement" policy.

During fiscal 2002, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry will initiate a range of projects aimed at re-creating the natural, winding route of rivers, and reviving swamps, lakes and marshes across the country, ministry officials said.

Over the course of fiscal 2002, which begins April 1, the ministry will spend 2 billion yen carrying out projects of this kind in 14 locations.

The program will mark the first time for the government to carry out river-based projects aimed at conservation.

The ministry hopes to create an environment favorable to native fauna, while purifying the water, enhancing the capacity of the rivers in question to handle floods, and providing a case study for environmental education.

The ministry said it will consult with nonprofit organizations and local residents while drawing up the plans.

In terms of maintaining swamplands, the ministry will reshape rivers so that water will frequently flood onto riverbanks when it rains, while measures will be taken to prevent erosion upstream.

The ministry also plans to initiate an afforestation project along the rivers' edges as well as planting ditch reeds in lakes and marshes. The 14 locations selected by the ministry include the Kushiro River in Hokkaido, the Arakawa River in Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo, and Lake Shinji in Shimane Prefecture.