Five species set to be added to nation's endangered list of flora and fauna

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Five species set to be added to nation's endangered

list of flora and fauna

 

Five species are to be added to the current list of 57

endangered Japanese plants and animals on Aug. 2.

The move, by the Cabinet, follows a recommendation

Tuesday by an Environment Ministry advisory panel.

 

Three of the five species, two types of orchid and a

species of cicada indigenous to Ishigaki Island,

inhabit Okinawa Prefecture. The flowers are threatened

by habitat loss, while the cicadas' communication is

apparently being disrupted by noise pollution and

development.

 

A third type of orchid found in the Tohoku region that

has been plundered by flower aficionados is also to be

protected, as is a 5-cm fish related to the carp

threatened by deteriorating water quality, development

and fishing.

 

Endangered plants and animals are protected under the

Law for the Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora.

 

Violators of the law face up to a year in prison and a

1 million yen fine.

 

The five species will be the first addition in three

years.

 

Critics of the system complain that protection of

added species is proceeding at a glacial pace.

 

" There are more than 2,600 species in the nation's Red

Data Book. At this rate, less than half will be

protected (under this law) over the next 100 years, "

said Shinichi Hayama, a professor at Nippon Veterinary

and Animal Science University in Tokyo.

 

Species require " adequate scientific grounds " to be

assigned protection under the law, but no systematic

standards or guidelines exist and the decisions are

made in the bureaucratic void, Hayama said, noting

that only two or three species have been added per

year since the law went into effect in 1993.

 

Fish protection

 

The land and farm ministries plan to improve the

living environment for killifish and loaches, ministry

officials said Tuesday.

The killifish is on the verge of extinction, according

to the Environment Ministry.

 

Killifish normally spawn in rice paddies, and the

young ones mature in the rice field before heading to

rivers and waterways. Loaches and catfish also follow

a similar pattern.

 

The ministries hope to jointly create a more

hospitable environment for the fish by decreasing the

differences in elevation found between rice paddies,

rivers and waterways.

 

It is the first time for the two ministries to work

together on fish conservation. They plan to create a

model area for the plan within the current fiscal

year, they said.

 

The Japan Times: July 24, 2002

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