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A petition by 5 scientific associations) Please Conserve Biodiversity of Hachino Higata Taidal Flat near Hiroshima RT @tiniasobu

2021/09/11

 

A Japanese version available in
http://ankei.jp/yuji/?n=2528

September 9, 2021

Mr. Peter GERSTMANN,
Managing Director,
JBG Power GmbH and JBG Energy Japan
Kurf醇вstendamm 52,
10707 Berlin, GERMANY.

Request for conservation of the biodiversity in tidal flats at
Hachi-no-higata, Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Dear Mr. GERSTMANN,

The decrease in natural tide flats and decline in the biodiversity of
coastal organisms that live in these habitats
have been accelerated during the last 50 years in Japan. A large number
of these organisms are endangered or have been made extinct in many of
the tidal flat areas.
The tidal flats at Hachi-no-higata in Takehara City, Hiroshima
Prefecture, Japan (facing the Seto Inland Sea) have miraculously
maintained rich natural tidal flat environments, and thus
Hachi-no-higata is one of the most significant hot spots for the
conservation of the biodiversity of coastal organisms in Japan. More
than 70 species ? listed in the latest Red List issued by the Japanese
Ministry of the Environment (2020), and latest Red Data Book of
Hiroshima Prefecture (2011) ? currently inhabit the tidal flats or the
adjacent sea areas: among them, 16 species are designated as critically
endangered or endangered, 19 as vulnerable, and 39 as near-threatened.
The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Horseshoe
Crab Specialist Group maintains that the Hachi-no-higata is a very
important habitat, particularly because it represents the northernmost
and easternmost distribution limit of the crab species Tachypleus
tridentatus, which has been classified as endangered by the IUCN not
only in Japan, but in the world. In line with the significance for the
conservation of biodiversity, the tidal flats and neighboring waters
have been included by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment among the
Important Wetlands with High Biodiversity, and Important Marine Areas
with High Biodiversity, respectively.
(http://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/biodic/kaiyo-hozen/kaiiki/index.html).


Because of its rich biodiversity, Hachi-no-higata attracts both domestic
and foreign researchers from prestigious institutions such as the
universities of Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Kyoto, Okayama, Kochi, Kyusyu, the
Japanese National Museum of Nature and Science, and the
Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum f醇в Polar- und
Meeresforschung. Over 20 scientific studies investigating this eco
have been recently published.

Additionally, Hachi-no-higata has been designated by administrative
bodies of Hiroshima Prefecture and Takehara City as a destination for
students and local people to learn and appreciate the environmental
dynamics of the tidal flats and its neighboring seas.


The site for the LNG power plant, recently proposed by your companies,
is adjacent to the tidal flats, and the massive sea-based facilities
that are to be constructed have the potential to disrupt the natural
equilibrium in this region, producing the following negative impacts on
the delicate tidal flat eco and on its many endangered organisms:
1: The discharge and accumulation of sand, mud, silt and hazardous
substances during the construction will impede the feeding and
reproductive activities of marine organisms, leading to a decrease in
their populations.
2: Marine non-indigenous invasive organisms will be introduced via
hull-fouling occurring on ocean-going LNG carriers and coastal barges
that will visit the area during construction operations, and this will
decrease the populations of indigenous threatened organisms through
competitive exclusion or predation.
3: The discharge of cooling water, if any, which is used in the closed
cooling and will contain
hazardous substances, has negative effects on the endangered organisms.
4: The ocean-going LNG carriers, with their lengths of ca. 250 m, the
LNG floating storage barge, which is 120 m long and 50 m wide, and the
landing piers with lengths of over 500 m, will most likely change the
direction and volume of tidal streams, coastal flows and discharge from
the Kamogawa River, which flows into Hachi-no-higata. As a result, this
will cause a severe loss of the balance between the erosion and
deposition of sand, mud and silt on the tidal flats, as well as changes
in the composition of grain size in the tidal flat substrata, which will
inevitably affect the distribution and density of organisms living on
and in the tidal flats. For instance, siltation on the substrata will
decrease the number or area of spawning sites for horse shoe crabs,
which lay eggs on a restricted substratum consisting of sand with a
grain size (diameter) between 0.4 and 1.0 mm.

We would strongly urge you to consider that

1: scientifically valid environmental impact assessment should be
conducted to thoroughly evaluate the
impacts of this construction on many endangered and rare species,

2: the results of the assessments should be disclosed and evaluated by
specialists from a variety of fields,
including coastal engineering, hydraulics, conservation biology,
benthology and planktology, and

3: this plan should be reconsidered or cancelled, if detrimental effects
on endangered and rare species are
confirmed as likely.

4: you should respond to our requests in writing as soon as possible.

5: Mooring of the huge LNG carriers and storage barge in the shallow
coastal area will inevitably cause frequent dredging, resulting in the
loss of balance between the erosion and deposition of sand, mud and silt
on the tidal flats.

6: The potential occurrence of marine accidents, such as grounding of
the carriers, will severely damage the
shallow water ecos, including Hachi-no-higata and the adjacent sea
areas.

Nevertheless, your companies’ construction works are about to be started
without a proper environmental impact assessment.

We would expect you to exercise your own judgment while considering the
challenge of preserving the precious biodiversity of the Hachi-no-higata
tidal flats and adjacent sea areas. We believe that an objective
judgment on this matter will lead to the correct decision, in line with
the current international policy of Sustainable Development Goals
(SDG’s).

Sincerely,

Keiji IWASAKI, Chairperson oft he Committee for the Conservation of
Biodiversity, the Malacological Society of Japan, Professor of Nara
University, Dr.

Yuji ANKEI, Chairperson of the Committee for Conservation for the
Natural Environments, the
Society for the Study of Molluscan Diversity, Professor Emeritus of
Yamaguchi Prefectural University, Dr.

Dai NAGAMATSU, President of the Chugoku-Shikoku Branch of the
Ecological Society of
Japan,
Senior Curator of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Dr.

Shinichi SATO, Chairperson of the Committee for Conservation of
Natural Environment,
The Japanese Association of Benthology, Professor of Shizuoka
University, Dr.
Professor of Tottori University, Dr.

Gento SHINOHARA, President of the Ichthyological Society of Japan,

Persons to contact: Keiji IWASAKI,
Department of Geography, Nara University, 1500 Misasagicho, Nara
631-8502, Japan

Gyo ITANI,
Member of the Nature Conservation Committee, the Chugoku-Shikoku Branch
of the Ecological Society
of Japan,
Faculty of Education, Kochi University, 2-5-1 Akebono, Kochi 780-8520,
Japan

Tidal flats at Hachi-no-higata, Hiroshima Japan and their threatened
species

ConserveHachinohigataEvidences.pdf (3,915KB)

 

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