October 30, 2019

The U.S. environmental NGO Mission Blue recently announced that the coastal area in the Henoko/Oura Bay in Okinawa’s Nago City, where the Abe government is bulldozing through reclamation work for the construction of a new U.S. base, has been registered as a “Hope Spot”.

Mission Blue, which was founded by world-famous oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, inspires actions to protect the oceans worldwide. It has designated over 110 sites as “Hope Spots”, special places that are critical to the health of the ocean, around the globe. The Henoko coastal area is designated Japan’s first “Hope Spot”.

Following the Mission Blue announcement, representatives of Japanese environmental organizations, including the Nature Conservation Society of Japan (NACS-J), which nominated the Henoko/Oura Bay area to the “Hope Spot” designation, on October 29 held a press conference in the Okinawa Prefectural office building.

NACS-J official Abe Mariko said that the selection of the Henoko coastal area was made in recognition of the invaluable biodiversity in the area and people’s fight to protect it from the U.S. base construction project.

NACS-J Chairman Kameyama Akira reported that in reaction to the Henoko “Hope Spot” designation, they requested the Okinawa Prefectural government to introduce a system for environmental conservation in the Henoko/Oura Bay area. He added that a government official made a favorable response to the request.

Regarding the latest “Hope Spots” selection, the NACS-J on its website introduced a video message from Dr. Sylvia Earle. Dr. Earle in her message said that the designation gives an opportunity for Japanese people who recognize nature as irreplaceable to use their voices to ask questions about the need for the Henoko base project.

Past related articles:
> 1/3 of corals transplanted due to Henoko base construction died [September 11, 2019]
> Henoko dugong found dead [March 20, 2019]