Okinawa Air Base Deal Still Controversial

October 26th, 2005

New plan does not guarantee survival of endangered marine mammal

Okinawa, Japan/Washington, DC-- A coalition of hundreds of US and international conservation groups, representing over 12 million people, remain opposed to a new US air base in Okinawa. The coalition will deliver a letter on Thursday to President George Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi outlining the groups' concerns.

Last night, the United States and Japan announced a new plan that would involve building near, rather than directly on top of, the coral reef as originally planned. Under the new plan, the airbase would occupy part of a peninsula now hosting a US Marine base, as well as a portion of reclaimed marine habitat on either side of the peninsula.

Conservation groups say that any airbase at Henoko, Okinawa could potentially devastate a coral reef and sea grass field, which scientists say could have grave consequences for the imperiled Okinawa dugong (saltwater manatee). According to a study by leading dugong scientists and published by the United Nations Environment Programme, coastal construction, land reclamation and terrestrial runoff threaten the seagrass beds on which the dugong relies for survival. The UN also reports that dugong habitat could be damaged by other military activities associated with the construction and use of an airbase at Henoko. This damage includes pollution resulting from noise caused by ammunition drills and military practice, hazardous chemicals, soil erosion and the disposal of depleted uranium weapons.

"For Okinawans, the dugong has profound 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. Okinawan tradition sees the dugong as a friendly messenger warning of sea disasters such as tsunamis."

This weekend, a security meeting is scheduled to discuss the new proposal and other issues. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will meet Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Defense Agency Director-General Yoshinori Ono in Washington, DC. Both sides hope to resolve this dispute before a planned trip by President Bush to Okinawa in mid-November. Okinawa, which accounts for less than one percent of Japan's landmass, already hosts 75 percent of the US military presence in Japan.

Increasing International Opposition

The plan for an air base at Henoko has faced continual demonstrations by Okinawans for more than two years and is opposed by environmental groups from around the world. The latest plan would require landfilling portions of two saltwater bays on which the endangered dugong rely for their survival. Many remain concerned that destruction of this key marine habitat could doom the last remaining Okinawan dugong to extinction and destroy essential habitat for other threatened sea life, such as sea turtles.

"The Okinawa dugong, which is an endangered species, should be protected domestically and internationally," said Sekine Takamichi an attorney with the Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation. "We call for the suspension of any relocation plans that involve Okinawa dugong habitat and Henoko Bay. We also request the governments to set up a dugong sanctuary and outline a dugong conservation plan based on the IUCN's (World Conservation Union) recommendation."

"Construction of the new airbase, even under the new plan, would cause severe ecological damage to one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth," said Peter Galvin of the Center for Biological Diversity. "For this reason, conservation groups around the world are asking President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi to cancel the base construction plan in its entirety and protect the Okinawa dugong, a creature recognized as a national monument in Japan."

The region at issue is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the Pacific. Okinawa is second only to the Great Barrier Reef in terms of marine biodiversity, and the sea grass beds in northern Okinawa are the feeding ground of the last remaining dugong in Japanese waters. The sea grass and reef also provide important habitat for numerous rare wildlife species, including three species of sea turtle.

Local residents voted overwhelmingly against the airbase project in a 1997 referendum, but Japanese and US authorities have repeatedly ignored their voices.

A coalition of US and Japanese conservation groups went to court in September 2003 to stop the original project. The case is currently being heard in US Federal District Court in San Francisco. The lawsuit asks the US Department of Defense to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) by publicly assessing the impacts of the proposed project on the Okinawa dugong in consultation with Okinawan communities. The NHPA requires US agencies to assess the impacts of their activities on cultural icons of foreign nations. Because of their significance to Okinawan culture, dugongs are included on a Japanese government list of protected cultural properties.

"The Department of Defense has a legal duty to protect the cultural resources and national monuments of other nations," said Marcello Mollo of Earthjustice, who is representing the coalition in the United States. "Now that the most destructive airstrip plan over Henoko's reef is off the table, we see momentum toward an eventual cancellation of this entire air base. The courageous protesters in Okinawa have brought the world's attention to this issue. But the fight goes on."

Contact Info:
Peter Galvin, Center for Biological Diversity (USA) +1-520-907-1533
Marcello Mollo, Earthjustice (USA) +1-510-550-6700
Sekine Takamichi (Japan) +81-078-842-1955
Takuma Higashionna (Japan) +81-098-055-8587

Marines and manatees: a proposed U.S. base in Okinawa threatens endangered dugongs

Jeff Shaw
E: The Environmental Magazine > Jan-Feb, 2005 >

When Napoleon Bonaparte was told of the peace-loving Okinawan culture, whose values precluded maintaining a standing army, he scoffed. Surrounded by great and powerful neighbors, he opined, such a nation could not long survive.

Years later, the French despot's stance was vindicated. Today, Japanese and American military bases exist throughout Okinawa's subtropical ecosystems. For more than 100 years, Tokyo and Washington were content with domination of the land. Now, say environmental groups on both sides of the Pacific, the United States Marine Corps has come for the sea as well.

Plans are in place for a first-of-its-kind sea-based heliport for the U.S. Marines. Built directly on top of a sensitive coral reef, the mammoth air station's runway will reach a mile into the Pacific Ocean. Peter Galvin of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) says that the heliport would smother the life support system of multiple endangered species--among them the critically endangered dugong (manatee), sacred to locals. Only 50 of these genetically distinct creatures survive in the region, comprising the northernmost population. Along with five other environmental groups from Okinawa, mainland Japan and the United States, CBD has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Department of Defense seeking to stop the sea base.

"Okinawa is sometimes called the 'Galapagos of the East' because of the incredible species diversity found there" says Galvin, a biologist. "Clearly, this is not the place for another military base."

"The coral reef is going to be destroyed, the dugong habitat is going to be destroyed, and there's going to be pollution in what is a pretty clean body of water," predicts Jonathan Taylor, a professor at California State University-Fullerton. "There's also going to be tremendous noise pollution, which will affect wildlife inland."

Besides the dugong, base construction could push other endangered animals over the brink, scientists and activists fear. "The Henoko Sea is very rich in biological diversity," says Makishi Yoshikazu of Okinawa Environmental Network, a local activist group at the forefront of a growing social movement on both sides of the Pacific.

Three endangered species of sea turtle--the green, hawksbill and loggerhead--lay eggs on beaches near the base site. Reefs in Okinawa support more than 1,000 species of fish, attracting scuba divers from all around the world to the warm, clear waters. The variety of marine life divers can see here is second only to Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Off the coast of Henoko village, where the new base is slated for construction, surveys recently uncovered 1,000 types of mollusks--including several that were previously undiscovered. Okinawan scuba guide Tanahara Seishu says Henoko's sea is critical dugong habitat. Based on his photographs of "dugong trenches"--fissures in the sea grass left by feeding animals he concludes, "Henoko is the main feeding ground of the dugong."

The U.S. military makes two arguments: that building the sea base is a Japanese government project, hence outside American jurisdiction; and that the sea base would replace a much resented base on land, thus reducing the "footprint" of the U.S. military on Okinawa Island proper. "It would be inappropriate for the U.S. Marine Corps to discuss a [government of Japan] project," says Captain Christopher Perrine, an officer based at Camp Butler.

Environmental groups are extremely skeptical, in part because of documents obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity under the Freedom of Information Act. The paperwork shows U.S. Marine Corps officials granting Japan permission to conduct surveys of the Henoko site and even allowing the surveyors to set up a field office at America's nearby Camp Schwab.

Marine Air Station Futenma is one of the least-popular bases with Okinawans because it surrounds densely populated Ginowan city. Locals resent the base's noise, the pollution it creates, and worry about potential aircraft accidents. Advocates say moving the base offshore would reduce these impacts. Perrine says that the U.S. Marine Corps "enthusiastically supports" moving Futenma offshore as an "effort to reduce the amount of land used by U.S. forces on Okinawa."

Local opposition to the sea base is strong. Voters in the affected areas, Henoko and Nago, overwhelmingly rejected the project in a non-binding 1997 plebiscite. Even Iha Yoichi, the mayor of Ginowan, where Futenma occupies 40 percent of the land, strongly opposes moving the base offshore. "Building a new airport in Henoko only destroys nature," he says. "It is not a solution for residents in Ginowan, who suffer from incessant aircraft noise and the constant tear that aircraft might crash on their homes any moment."

Politically isolated as Japan's poorest prefecture, Okinawa--which has a culture and history distinct from the mainland--has been forced to house a disproportionate number of U.S. military installations and troops. Thirty-eight American military facilities already dominate one-fifth of the southern island's land; though Okinawa is less than one percent of Japan's territory, it provides 75 percent of the acreage for America's Japanese bases.

Muneyoshi Kaiyo, a former mayor of Henoko, is now to be found staffing a protest camp at the only road into town. "The people have been righting for eight years to stop this project," he says. "We are hoping to protect this beautiful ocean, and to increase the number of dugong here."

Regardless, some think it's unlikely the U.S. and Japan will back down. According to Taylor, "The Japanese have treated Okinawa as if it were expendable, so the chances of Okinawan protests being successful are not that great. Japan is caught between two opposing forces--one side being Okinawan protests, and the other side being the U.S. It's pretty clear which side is more powerful."

Chalmers Johnson, president of the California-based Japan Policy Research Institute, goes a bit further: "Could they give a damn about killing off the dugong, or killing off one of the last healthy reefs in the islands?" he asks. "No, it's more of the same: Tokyo and Washington ganging up on the Okinawans, and there's not much they can do about it."

CONTACT: Center for Biological Diversity, (520)623-5252,
www.biologicaldiversity.org; Japan Policy Research Institute, (760) 944-3950, www.jpri.org; Okinawa Environmental Network, (011) 098-832-3224,
http:// homepage1.nifty.com/okikan/en.