Scubaism

As part of their efforts to protect the dugong, the Center for Biological Diversity has been leading a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. military has maintained a strong presence in Okinawa since World War II, with more than 30,000 personnel currently stationed on the island. The lawsuit addresses a planned relocation of the Marine Corps’ Futenma Airbase, which sits in a densely populated site, to a more isolated stretch of shoreline in Camp Schwab, according to the U.S. military.

But the project requires expanding runways into a bay that “is the richest area of sea grass in Okinawa,” Peter Galvin, conservation director for the Center for Biological Diversity in Shelter Cove, California, said. “It’s the best of the last habitat for the dugong.”

Marine Corps spokesperson Garron Garn in Okinawa said via email that the expansion project is designed to meet the military unit’s operational needs. The “exact location of the airfield was determined by higher authorities in the U.S. and Japanese governments,” he said, and declined further comment.

In an August 15 article in the military newspaper the Stars and Stripes, Japanese and U.S. officials said that the [dugong’s recent “critically endangered” listing on Japan’s Ministry of the Environment Red List] isn’t expected to delay the planned construction. The newspaper also quoted Ministry of the Environment spokesperson Harumi Nakajima as saying the listing is meant simply to inform the public that dugongs are at risk. The agency does not plan to restrict activities at dugong feeding grounds as part of the new classification, she said.

Hideki Yoshikawa is a member of the Save the Dugong Campaign Center in Okinawa. He said in an email that the Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA), a Japanese organization that manages facilities for the U.S. military, does appear to be moving ahead with the base construction.

The next hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for September 17.