There are approximately 100,000 dugong (a species of ocean-inhabiting
mammals) living on our planet earth. Spread out between the western part
of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, their area of habitation is
bordered by Australia to the South and Japan's furthest southwesterly island
of Okinawa to the north. In the Indian Ocean, they stretch as far as Mozambique
on Africa's eastern coast. Sadly, however, these gentle-natured animals
- who eat seagrass and share ancestors with the elephant - are decreasing
in number. The Okinawan dugong in particular number so few as to once have
actually been thought extinct. They were formerly spotted around Amami
Island and various coastal regions of the Ryukyu Island chain. Due to such
factors as worsening ocean conditions and entrapment within fishing nets,
however, their estimated numbers have shrunk to between a mere ten and
fifty total in the Okinawan eastern seacoast region. The area of dugong
habitation closest to Okinawa is the Philippines, lying 1000 km to the
south. In Taiwan, the animal has already been extinct since the 1960's.
Moreover, although officially designated in Japan as a natural monument,
the rare "northernmost dugong" has yet to receive any type of
actual protection to ensure its continued existence.
In 1972, 27 years following the end of World War II, Okinawa was returned
to Japan after a period of U.S. rule. However, in accordance with the Japan-U.S.
Security Treaty (=the military alliance of Japan and U.S.), 75% of all U.S.
bases in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa. As a result, the residents of
Okinawa have been continually suffering under these bases; and Okinawa's natural
environment is being destroyed by nonstop military training exercises. This is
not all, however. The sudden and dramatic increase in economic development
following Okinawa's return to Japan has resulted in extreme contamination of
Okinawa's waters, which has in turn restricted the dugong's habitat. Moreover,
those dugongs that managed to survive thusfar are now facing new disasters that
are threatening to root out their very existence.
On July 29, 2002, the Japanese government officialized plans to construct
a substitute facility of the Futenma U.S. marine airbase airport, which
is presently located in the central Okinawan city of Ginowan. The proposed
new facility lies off the eastern coast of a village called Henoko, which
is located in the Yambaru region on the northern part of the same island.
The site is directly atop a coral reef, which is also the precise area
where the remaining dugongs have most recently been spotted. Seagrass such
as the "Ryukyu Amamo(Cymodocea serrulata)" that the dugong feed
upon are found throughout the Henoko coastal reef area, which is truly
the one place where the northernmost dugong may live in peace. This giant
military airport facility - 2500 meters long, 1730 meters wide, and 184
hectares (including a 2000 meter runway) will consume massive amounts of
earth, sand and stone - and in turn pollute the waters surrounding the
reef, while simultaneously destroying the nearby delicate ecosystem that
had been so gradually created over time. Furthermore, the noise pollution
that will occur during the long period of construction of this facility
will effectively drive away - and thereby cause the extinction of - the
northernmost dugong, which is an internationally protected animal.
International environmental institutions, including nature preservation
organizations in Japan such as the International Union for the Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and United Nations Environmental
Programme (UNEP), have been expressing their deep misgivings and anxiety to the
Japanese government with regard to the construction of this military facility
and its impact upon the survival of the dugong. The government, however, has yet
to implement any effective policy to ensure the preservation of this
animal.
We, the below signatories, as citizens of this earth who have come
together as one, urge the government of Japan with regard to the following:
*Please withdraw the existing plans to
construct a U.S. military base facility, that will destroy the habitat of the
northernmost dugong.
*Please immediately implement a policy
addressed at fulfilling the responsibility of the Japanese government to protect
the dugong in Okinawa.
to
Mr. Junichiro Koizumi
Prime Minister of Japan |
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