Ten Thousand Things
Multicultural Webfinds

"Ten Thousand Things" is a Buddhist expression representing the dynamic interconnection and simultaneous unity and diversity of everything in the universe.

Please Help Okinawan, Japanese, American, & Transnational Environmentalists Save the Okinawan Dugong

photo: Suehiro Nitta, courtesy
Association to Protect Northernmost Dugong

Stretching the scope of this blog's focus on diversity even further – to cover all living things – here's an email-action request from BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST to help support the survival of the dugong:

EARTHJUSTICE, an American environmental law NGO, has been working since 2003 with a coalition of Okinawan, Japanese, and transnational activists to save the habitat of dugong, a rare and gentle mammal related to the manatee, and cultural icon of the Okinawan people. In 2005, a federal judge in San Francisco denied the U.S. Defense Department's petition to dismiss the lawsuit.

To build a military airport, the U.S. and Japanese governments planned to destroy the home of as perhaps as little as ten remaining endangered Okinawan dugong, who live in the seagrass beds and coral reefs of Okinawa's Henoko Bay, an area described by the United Nations Environment Program as "the most important known dugong habitat in Japan." If the U.S. military proceeds with construction on top of this coral reef on Okinawa's east coast, not only will a beautiful and rare coral reef be ruined, but also the rare dugong will move more rapidly towards extinction because of the loss of this crucial habitat.

A 2003 EARTHJUSTICE 2003 press release outlines the facts of its lawsuit on behalf of a coalition including the US Center for Biological Diversity and the Turtle Island Restoration Network and four Japanese groups: Dugong Network Okinawa, Save the Dugong Foundation, Committee Against Heliport Construction - Save Life Society, and the Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation:

"The American military base planned on this coral reef threatens the survival of the Okinawa dugong and should be reconsidered," said Takenobu Tsuchida of the Dugong Network Okinawa. "We are glad our friends in the United States have joined our efforts to preserve an essential icon of Okinawan culture."

"'The United States must be sensitive to Japan's national treasures, as well as international obligations to protect the environment. The dugong has a rich history and holds a special place in Okinawan mythology and culture,' said Takaaki Kagohashi, Japan Environmental Lawyers Foundation. 'The people of Okinawa deserve respect for their cultural and natural heritage just as Americans would expect government agencies to protect their natural treasures...'

The waters off Okinawa are the northern-most home of the dugong. The Okinawa dugong is a genetically isolated marine mammal listed by the government of Japan since 1972 as a "Natural Monument" under Japan's "Cultural Properties Protection Law." Since 1955, the dugong was protected as a cultural monument by the autonomous Ryukyu Prefecture due largely to its status as a revered and sacred animal among native Okinawans. The Okinawa dugong is also listed under the US Endangered Species Act.

"'For Okinawans, the dugong compares only to the American bald eagle in terms of cultural and historical significance,' said Takuma Higashionna from the Okinawa-based, Save the Dugong Foundation. 'The myth of the mermaid comes from sailors who saw the dugong. Historically, Okinawans believe the dugong to be a friendly harbinger of sea disasters such as tsunamis.'

"'Living here in Yambaru for seventeen years,' said Ms. Anna Koshiishi, an individual plaintiff in the case, 'I have learned many important things from nature. All life on the Earth has close connection and plays an important role. Every life is indispensable to keep the balance of this connection. To save Okinawa dugong, which is a globally threatened species, is to save my own life.'

"US Duty to Protect International Historic Resources

"The National Historic Preservation Act is international in scope. It establishes a policy that "the Federal Government, in cooperation with other nations," will "provide leadership in the preservation of the prehistoric and historic resources of the United States and of the international community of nations." Congress added Section 402 to NHPA in 1980 to comply with US obligations under the World Heritage Convention and to mitigate the adverse effects of federal undertakings abroad.

"'Given the obvious impacts on the dugong and its habitat from construction of the new base, the Department of Defense should consult with Japanese environmentalists and Japanese cultural officials in a fully public process before moving ahead with this project,' said Martin Wagner of Earthjustice, who is representing the coalition in the United States.

"'With a globalizing economy, environmental issues have become borderless,' said Kagohashi of Japan Environmental Lawyers Foundation. 'Not a few environmental problems need to be addressed by international collaboration. This cooperation between the Japan and US environmental organizations and environmental lawyers illustrates this new style of international collaboration. We believe wildlife and human beings live in one big house called the Earth. Dugong's name as a plaintiff in this case will show how we are all connected.'"

BIODIVERSITY ACTIVIST's call for email action provides a broad overview and more recent background:

"U.S. Military Base in Okinawa Threatens Rare Dugongs

"Okinawa has been called the "Galapagos of the East" as the region's surrounding bays and oceans are home to an amazing diversity of life.
"The Kuroshio Ocean current brings tropical waters to the region's bays and coral reefs, a warm current that helps sustain as many as 400 different species of coral and supports the nutrient-rich seagrass beds upon which the Okinawa dugong feeds. More than 1,000 species of reef fish, marine mammals, and sea turtles — including the endangered hawksbill, loggerhead, and green turtle — also live among Okinawa's reefs and seagrass beds.

"Now, the United States and Japanese governments want to steamroll over these unique animals and their home by filling in a large area of ocean near Henoko in order to expand Camp Schwab. And to expand this U.S. military base, drilling surveys are being conducted on and adjacent to Henoko's coral reefs — and reef sections that are not damaged by the initial drilling will be heavily impacted by the massive military construction project. If the U.S. and Japanese militaries continue with the Camp Schwab expansion plans, critical dugong habitat will be destroyed.

"Camp Schwab is located adjacent to and in Henoko Bay, and for years nonviolent citizens' groups, led primarily by community elders, have peacefully blocked U.S. military expansion efforts there. But now, the likelihood of Camp Schwab's expansion looms ever larger. On May 18, 2007, Henoko community members took to their kayaks and canoes to protest against private, pre-construction drilling surveys in Henoko Bay. In response to this peaceful demonstration, the Japanese Coast Guard was called in to deter citizen demonstrators. Unfortunately, the approaching completion of some drilling surveys brings expansion of Camp Schwab ever nearer.

"This is a critical moment. As drilling surveys continue in Henoko Bay, more and more dugong habitat is being harmed. Without adequate habitat to sustain them, the Okinawa dugong is headed toward the path of extinction. Please, let your voice be heard.

"The Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation, Dugong Network Okinawa, Save the Dugong Foundation, and several other Okinawan individuals have filed a lawsuit in federal district court in San Francisco against the U.S. Department of Defense base expansion plan.

"Environmental law firm Earthjustice represents the plaintiffs. The case will go to trial in September 2007.

"Please speak out today on this important issue. Send a message to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and their counterparts in Japan's government urging them to halt the expansion of U.S. military base Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan."

GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL and GREENPEACE JAPAN have also helped to spearhead this struggle at the global and local grassroots level, delivering 30,313 messages from people all over the world saying "Stop the Impact Assessment and save the dugongs" to the Bureau of Defence Policy in Naha, Okinawa, and to the Ministry of Environment in Tokyo on September 27, 2007, the last day the Japanese Defense Ministry would accept public comments. While Greenpeace has already closed this campaign, its website is a great source of additional information.

Dave Walsh and Eoin Dubsky at Greenpeace have provided an overview, a moving video (in Japanese with English subtitles), and an Oct 5 update.

Last month's words from Greenpeace Japan's Junichi Sato emphatically demonstrate what is at stake:

"Recently local divers found a colony of blue coral in the Oura Bay where the airbase construction is planned. Nowhere on the globe has blue coral been found so far north, and this is one of the biggest found in the region; 80 meters long, 27 meters wide, and 12 meters high. This colony was not known before to exist in the bay. "Also, local TV news filmed (video at above link) an endangered dugong and turtle swimming and playing together in the bay, which is very rare to be seen. Please help us save them!"

Previous ........... Next
Back to Ten Thousand Things index page...