World Natural Heritage – Yambaru and Iriomote to go on World Natural Heritage prospective list

World Natural Heritage – Yambaru and Iriomote to go on World Natural Heritage prospective list

 

On December 26, the 3rd Amami Ryukyu World Natural Heritage Candidate Scientific Committee met at a hotel in Naha.

 

The committee announced that it has chosen Amami, Tokunoshima, Iriomote Island and the northern municipalities of Kunigami, Ogimi and Higashi as candidates for the World Natural Heritage list.

 

They will appear on UNESCO’s prospective list in the New Year, with the final decision being made no sooner than July 2016.

 

The Ministry of Environment will submit a letter of nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre by February 2015.

 

They will work with the Forestry Agency to decide upon the special protection areas that will make up the core of the registration to the World Natural Heritage list.

 

The ministry will also cooperate with the Kingdom of Ryukyu to speed-up the process of converting some areas into national parks.

 

There now also needs to be discussion with landowners, people in the forestry industry as well as dealings with the U.S. military’s Northern Training Area, which stretches from Higashi to Kunigami.

 

Amami and the Ryukyu Islands were divided into 17 areas, four of which were selected based on the inhabitation of endangered native species and the proportion of land covered by forest.

 

Both regions share a long history of isolation from the continent, have many native species of animals and plants, and have developed wet subtropical rainforests.

 

(English translation by T&CT and Hitomi Shinzato)

 

(Ryukyu Shimpo, 27 Friday December 2013 The Roman)

 

 

Noguchigera spotted in Nago for first time in four years

Noguchigera spotted in Nago for first time in four years

 

[caption id="attachment_9250" align="alignnone" width="156"] (At 8:00 a.m. on September 28, a noguchigera appeared in the Nagodake in Nago for the first time in four years. (Photograph provided by Yutaka Toguchi))[/caption]

 

A male noguchigera Okinawa woodpecker was confirmed as having been seen in Nago-dake in Nago in the morning of September 28.

 

This sighting is the first time in over four years.

 

The noguchigera is designated as a special national treasure and is an endangered species that inhabits part of an area in Ogimi and Kunigami Village.

 

It is extremely rare for there to be a sighting of the bird in Nago.

 

Masakuni Yamashiro, the chairman of the Wild Bird Society of Okinawa said, “We hope that the natural distribution range of the noguchigera is expanding. This bird symbolizes the rich nature of Okinawa.”

 

On September 28, Yutaka Toguchi, a warden of the Yagaji national wildlife protection, confirmed the sightseeing of the bird.

 

He heard the sound of the woodpecker pecking on a tree and then the bird appeared.

 

He has received information that residents have seen the woodpecker since August.

 

In the Red Data Book by the Ministry of the Environment, the noguchigera is listed as endangered 1A class, which means that it has a very high risk of extinction in the immediate future.

 

According to Toguchi, until 1980 there were sightings of the bird at Tano-dake in Nago.

 

The warden is observing the bird in Nago-dake in cooperation with Nago Museum.

 

Please send information of sightings of noguchigera to the Nago Museum.

 

Telephone: 0980 (53) 1342.

 

(English translation by T&CT, Mark Ealey)

 

(Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 Tuesday October 2013 The Roman)