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Awase TidalFlat Area Threatened
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Awase Tidal Flat Doomed?
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One of easiest ways to classify a wetland as of international importance is perhaps to pick up one and destroy all other wetlands. Of course, this is a bad/tasteless joke. However, this seems exactly what is happening in Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost major island of Japan.
Manko, the latest (11th) Ramsar site in Japan is located in Okinawa Island. Manko is a wetland complex comprising of mudflat, mangrove and reed bed components. It was officially designated during the last COP to the Ramsar Convention held in Costa Rica in 1999. The designation of Manko itself was highly appreciated since there is no other Ramsar site in southwestern part of Japan.
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<Map of Awase tidal flat area>
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Apart from Manko, however, important mudflat areas have been lost in Okinawa and surrounding islands. Therefore, Awase tidal flat area in Okinawa City is one of most important remaining tidal flat areas in whole Okinawa Prefecture.
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However, the development project at Awase was started in late March this year in spite of an opinion paper submitted by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations on 19 March. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations is the largest organization for lawyers in Japan. Its Special Project Team on wetland conservation and restoration has carried out a series of study tours and meetings to investigate the wetland conservation situation in Japan. The opinion paper submitted by the Federation criticized the reclamation project at Awase for inappropriate process, unrealistic projection of future housing demands, and ignorance of wetland values. The opinion paper, therefore, requests both central and local governments to abandon the reclamation project and to designate Awase as a Ramsar site.
Construction materials were brought to Awase in late March 2002. The major construction will start in August, since endangered blue mud hoppers (Scartelaos histophorus) breed from April to July. Avoid the breeding season but destroy the whole habitat? An experimental transplanting of important seagrass species using machinery has also been carried out, and its review panel has concluded that larger-scale transplanting with machinery is feasible. Conservation experts have expressed their doubts over such a conclusion.
Key words:
(1) Awase Tidal Mudflat Area
(2) Manko (Japan's latest Ramsar site)
(3) Landfill project
(4) Seagrass transplanting
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