Mr. Delmar Blasco
Secretary General
The Ramsar Convention Bureau
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland
Switzerland
July
12, 2002
Re: Awase Tidal Flat
Dear Mr. Delmar Blasco,
Thank you for your letter of April 4 to Mr. Hiroshi OHKl, Minister of the Environment, concerning the Awase Tidal Flat. I appreciate your concern over Japan's wetlands conservation.
Awase Tidal Flat is located at inner part of Nakagusuku bay, Okinawa prefecture. Although it is not designated as a Ramsar site, we recognizes that it is important area for environment conservation since it embraces an abundance of fishes and benthic organism such as Scartelaos histophorus. And it is also visited by many shorebirds, such as Pacific Golden Plover and Turnstone. Then Nakagusuku bay area including Awase Tidal Flat is listed in the National Inventory of Important Wetland 500, compiled by the Ministry of the Environmemnt of Japan in December 2001.
As for the reclamation project of the Awase area, the national plan for ports and harbors, of which this project was a part, was discussed at the Meeting of the Council for Ports and Harbours in 1995. And then this project was approved by the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture in December 2000.
The Environment Agency commented at the Meeting of the Council of Ports andHarbours that conservation of the natural environment of the Awase area should be carefully taken into account in the reclamation plan. Also, the Environment division of the Okinawa Prefectural government requested, on its project approval, that a monitoring survey on birds and marine algae be implemented, and that reclamation not be implemented in wetlands where endangered marine algae is found, unless transplantation skills are established. It has been agreed that these points should be carefully taken into consideration in course of implementation of the project.
Please accept my assurances that the Ministry of the Environment will be paying careful attention to the implementation of this project, maintaining close contact with the Okinawa prefectural government with a view to reducing the impact on the natural environment of Awase. Also, Ministry of the Environment also keeps making every possible effort to conserve wetlands and tidal flats, and to realize "the wise use of wetlands in their territory" that is prescribed in Article 3 Item 1 of the Ramsar Convention.
Sincerely yours,
Hikari KOBAYASHI
Director General
Nature Conservation Bureau
Ministry of the Environment, Japan
c.c. Director General, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Japan.
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Renewal：2002/11/19 |