'Save dugongs' international symposium calls for U.S. base construction plan to be canceled

An international symposium to discuss ways to preserve Okinawa's dugongs was held from September 28-29 in Tokyo by the WWF-Japan, the Nature Conservation Society of Japan, and the Save Dugongs Campaign Center. About 200 researchers and environmental activists participated in the discussion.

The dugong is an endangered sea mammal that lives in the waters near Okinawa's main island, but its habitat is being threatened by the planned construction of a U.S. air base in the sea off Nago City.

Speaking at the closing session on behalf of Okinawa's Center for the Campaign to Protect Dugongs, Miyagi Yasuhiro said, "We will act tenaciously and without delay to draw up action plans for the conservation of the dugong, considering that the U.S. base construction plan is already under way." (end)