北限のジュゴン調査チーム・ザン

To Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama

Dear Sir

We request, as a Nature Conservation group, that you stop looking for a
relocation site for the Futenma Base, according to the former US Secretary
of Defense Mr. Rumsfeld “the most dangerous military base in the world”,
and make a firm demand to the US government for the immediate closure and
return of the base.

The Okinawa dugong, the world’s northernmost dugong population, was once
believed extinct because of overhunting and over development. Ironically
dugongs were rediscovered as a result of the plan to relocate the Futenma
base to an area offshore Henoko. This rediscovery of dugong, an
internationally protected marine mammal and a Natural Monument of Japan,
gave hope to many people and reaffirmed the value of the Okinawan ecosystem.
Since this rediscovery about ten years ago, we have continuously worked for
the protection of the northernmost dugong.

We are, however, now confronted by several plans to relocate the Futenma
Base : the current “offshore plan” to landfill an area off Henoko and a
part of the Oura Bay adjacent to Camp Schwab, another plan to construct a
runway inside Camp Schwab, and still another plan to landfill a large area
off Katsuren. Every one of these plans threatens the dugong’s survival.

The current plan will seriously damage the marine ecosystem. Landfill of
the sea-area where dugongs have been observed would further endanger the
ecosystem and force the dugong into extinction. The plan to construct a
runway inside the base was once considered and canceled. The plan may seem
to be harmless to the sea but, in actuality, it too is destructive. A large
number of marines relocated from Futenma to Henoko would drain the water
supply in the area and cause pollution from drainage. A huge amount of
freshwater is needed to wash away salt from military helicopters while waste
water containing chemical detergent would pollute the sea.

The sea and the hills, the rivers and the woods are all connected.
Constructing a helipad and a runway inside Camp Schwab will destroy a part
of Yambaru, a beautiful forested area in the north of main island of
Okinawa. The new runway will cause danger and noise to the residents nearby
and its construction will destroy the vegetation of Yambaru, disturb the
rivers and water-table causing erosion of soil to the sea. It will harm the
dugong’s habitat.

The plan to landfill an area off Katsuren Peninsula is simply absurd. If
realized, it would be the formation of a huge military base even larger than
the Kadena Base, presently the largest base in the Far East. In order to
construct the more than ten- square- kilometer base, it is proposed to
dredge sand from the bottom of the surrounding sea; an enormous area of sea
would be irreversibly disturbed and damaged. The influence to the
cultivation of seaweed in the area would be devastating. Dugongs have been
sighted in recent years in this area of Nakagusuku, the sea-area between Kim
Bay and Katsuren Peninsula. This area used to be a known habitat for dugong
and should be preserved as a place where dugong may continue to live.

The Katsuren plan includes construction of two runways over 3,600 meters
long and another of 3,000 meters. It also includes relocation of the
Japanese Naha Air Self-Defense Force base and the US Naha military harbor to
this artificial island. The plan would chain the Okinawan people to the base
forever. It will destroy the Okinawan ecosystem and the way of life of the
people depending on it. The plan, if realized, would be an unforgivable
crime. The heart’s desire of the Okinawan people is not just a reduction of
the burden of military bases but the realization of a base-free island: a
peaceful island where people may live in harmony with the dugongs. Mr. Prime
Minister, if you really want to respect the peoples’ will, you must face
this reality.

Each and every plan you are planning to present to the US government is
merely a plan to relocate the Futenma Base inside Okinawa to which the whole
of Okinawa stands firmly opposed. You are trampling the Okinawan people’s
will head-on. We are definitely opposed to any plan to relocate the base
inside Okinawa since it destroys the future for the dugong and the Okinawan
ecosystem.

We repeat: Please stop looking for a relocation site for the “most
dangerous base in the world” and pressure the US government for the
immediate closure and return of the Futenma Base. There is no other solution
to the Futenma problem.

April 2,2010
Sincerely,
Association to Protect Northernmost Dugong
Representative: Masako Suzuki
n-hokugen.19@kjd.biglobe.ne.jp
http://sea-dugong.org/