Position Paper Seeking Suspension of the Henoko New Base Construction
Project
I. Our Intent
We call on the Japanese government to immediately suspend the public water bodyreclamation project for the construction of a facility to replace Marine Corps Air Station
Futenma (below, “Henoko new base construction project”), which involves the reclamationof waters including those at and adjacent to the Cape Henoko area at Henoko, Nago City,
Okinawa Prefecture.
II. Grounds
1. The Importance of Conserving Biological Diversity
All organisms on the Earth are distinctive in their own ways. They are connected andsupport one another directly or indirectly as in the food web or the symbiosis between
plants and the insects which transport pollen. Biodiversity means this abundantdistinctiveness of organisms and the connections among them. Biodiversity confers avariety of benefits upon us, and therefore its conservation is essential to our survival. Japan
in particular is surrounded by the ocean and has benefited from its coastal zones. As such,
maintaining the biodiversity of our coastal zones is an important matter for human rights inJapan.
On October 22, 2010 the Kyushu Federation of Bar Associations (KFBA) adopted the“Declaration Seeking the Preparation of an Effective Regional Biodiversity Strategy for the
Yambaru Region and All Other Areas,” thereby affirming that biodiversity conservation isindispensable for human survival, and requesting the preparation of an effective regional
biodiversity strategy.
2. The Value of the Marine Area at Cape Henoko and Oura Bay
The marine area at Cape Henoko and Oura Bay is located in an expanse of water facing
the Pacific Ocean, on the east coast by Nago City, on Okinawa Island. This area has highly
unusual geographical characteristics that comprise the Cape Henoko area and its coral reef,
as well as Oura Bay, which ranges from open-sea to closed-bay environments. These form
an integrated whole which features the largest seagrass meadow of Okinawa Island. In
response to an interview survey conducted by KFBA in 2020 and directed at Okinawa
Prefecture officials, the Okinawa Defense Bureau replied that, depending on theobservation point, a 2019 study found between 13 and 125 seagrass species in the summer,
and between 16 and 117 species in the winter. Seagrasses are not only important as food fordugongs and other animals, they also play an important role as habitat for fish, crustaceans,and other marine life.
The Environment Ministry’s Red List 2020 classifies the dugong as ⅠA (criticallyendangered, meaning there is an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the near
future). A survey by the Okinawa Defense Bureau confirmed the existence of at least threedugongs around Okinawa Island, and feeding trails have also been found. For these andother reasons, Oura Bay is thought to be highly important for the dugongs’ habitation.
This marine area also hosts a large variety of corals. There is a large community of Porites

cylindrica, and a marine area called Chiribishi has one of the world’s largest Heliopora
coerulea communities, measuring 50 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 12 meters high.
These are examples of the few places around Okinawa Island where good coral reefs arestill preserved. In response to the aforementioned KFBA interview survey, the Okinawa
Defense Bureau said that, depending on the observation point, between 71 and 124 coral
species were confirmed in summer, and between 65 and 128 in winter in the Cape
Henoko/Oura Bay area, which is very high in biodiversity because many kinds oforganisms gather around coral reefs.
As shown above, the Cape Henoko/Oura Bay marine area is habitat for a large variety of
species including seagrasses, corals, and dugongs, thereby making it highly rich inbiodiversity. In view of this abundant biodiversity, on November 21, 2013 the Japan
Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) submitted a document titled “Opinion on the
Reclamation of Public Water Bodies for the Project to Build a Replacement Facility for
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma,” which asked the government and Okinawa Prefecture
to implement conservation measures for the marine area in the vicinity of Cape Henoko andfor Oura Bay, such as designating those waters a national park in accordance with the
Natural Parks Law, and made other requests such as carrying out the procedures to register
the marine area as a wetland under the Ramsar Convention.
3. Reclamation of the Cape Henoko/Oura Bay Marine Area
(1) Environmental Conservation Measures Were Requested When Approval Was
Granted for Construction of the New Base at Henoko
The Henoko new base construction project is a public body reclamation project which isto reclaim waters at and adjoining the Cape Henoko area at Henoko, Nago City, in
Okinawa Prefecture, as the replacement site for Futenma Air Station (Figure 1 (the map in
the JFBA opinion referred to above) shows the location and extent of the reclamation site).
On March 22, 2013 the Okinawa Defense Bureau applied to the Okinawa Prefecture
governor for approval of the project under Article 42 Paragraph 1 of the Public Water Body
Reclamation Act, and on December 27 the then governor granted approval. As points ofconcern raised by the prefectural governor, the grant of approval includes a section titled“Regarding Environmental Conservation Measures and Other Considerations during
Construction Work,” which states, “Make all possible efforts to implement measures toprevent the intrusion of alien species, and measures to protect marine life including
dugongs and sea turtles.”Further, in the EIS for the Henoko new base construction project, the Japanese
government (the project proponent) set forth alternative environmental conservation
measures for corals: “As a measure to move corals living in the reclamation zone out ofdanger, we will transplant them to appropriate locations.” The statement further says,“Regarding the impacts of construction work on coral, it is assessed that attempts have been
made to avoid and reduce impacts to the greatest possible extent possible for the project
proponent.”(2) Environmental Conservation Measures for the Henoko New Base Construction
Project Are Inadequate••Impacts on Dugongs
Because the points of concern raised by the governor when granting approval included
making all possible efforts to protect the dugongs, the Okinawa Defense Bureau establishedthe “Committee on Environmental Monitoring for the Project to Build a Replacement
Facility for Marine Corps Air Station Futenma” in order to determine the impacts on thedugongs. In order to study the dugongs’ state of habitation and information about them, theBureau is: (1) confirming habitation from the air, (2) monitoring dugongs from a platform
vessel for observations, (3) monitoring by hydrophone recording, and (4) investigating theuse of seagrass meadows in the surrounding waters. However, since December 2018
dugong feeding signs have not been found in the peripheral area of the project site, andsurveys by aircraft and other means have yet to confirm dugong habitation since that time.
However, since February 2020 vocalizations thought to be those of dugongs have been
heard many times inside the project site. It is confirmed that dugongs have come to Oura
Bay in the past, and judging by the fact that vocalizations have been heard many times,
there is a good possibility that the dugongs whose whereabouts are unknown, or different
individuals, are inhabiting this marine locality.
When vocalizations thought to be those of dugongs were detected inside the project site in
March 2020, the presence of dugongs was not confirmed by marine monitoring from theplatform vessel even though it was a weekday when work was in progress.
Hence, one could hardly say that monitoring as now performed is adequate. If
construction work continues under the current monitoring system, then even if dugongs
come to the Cape Henoko/Oura Bay marine area, it is possible that their presence would beoverlooked, and project construction would continue without taking dugong habitat into
consideration.
Impacts on Coral
As stated above, the Okinawa Defense Bureau developed plans to transplant corals as anenvironmental conservation measure, and in July and August 2018 it transplanted ninecolonies of a rare coral (Porites okinawensis Veron) which were in the reclamation zone.
However, owing to results such as the larger part of the transplants dying, one could hardly
call this a success.
The diverse corals in the reclamation zone are originally there precisely because they arein a place to which those species are adapted. There is a high risk of death if they aretransplanted into different environments.
Despite that, the Okinawa Defense Bureau developed a plan to transplant many species
and large amounts of corals, even though that is, in the first place, an undesirable
conservation measure. As such, when formulating a transplantation plan, one must carefully
and adequately consider factors such as the environment of the transplant destinations andthe ecosystem impacts so as to reduce the deleterious effects of plan implementation to thegreatest extent possible. Nevertheless, attention has focused on doubts regarding the
Bureau’s plan with regard to the environmental similarity between the corals’ original
locations and destinations, and the plan has a variety of other problems including the lackof consideration for negative impacts on destination ecosystems. It is doubtful that careful
and adequate consideration has been given to these problems.

On July 28, 2021 special collection permission for coral transplantation was granted
pursuant to Okinawa Prefecture’s Fisheries Adjustment Regulations, but owing to differing
opinions on conditions governing collection, requests were made for the revocation of
special collection permission, and to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
to conduct a review and suspend execution.
•
Impacts of Seagrass Meadows and Other Places
Since the start of construction work, there has been a decrease in the size of seagrass andgulfweed (Sargassum fulvellum) meadow distributions in the marine area fronting on
Henoko, which is near the project site. The Okinawa Defense Bureau maintains that theseagrass and gulfweed meadow declines are not due to the effects of construction work.
But since the start of construction work, there has been a growth trend in the distribution
sizes of seagrass and gulfweed meadows in the marine area fronting on Kayo, which islocated northeast of Oura Bay. Judging by that, it is quite possible that the effect ofconstruction work is responsible for the decline in the area fronting on Henoko, which is
closer to the project site. In view of this, it would be hard to say that construction-work
impacts on marine plants have been taken sufficiently into consideration, or thatappropriate conservation measures have been implemented for marine plants.
•
Summation
In light of the above, one would have to say that environmental conservation measures for
the Henoko new base construction project are inadequate.
(3) Course of Events Preceding the Application for Approval of Changes, and the
Problems Involved•
Course of Events Preceding the Application for Approval of Changes
After approval was granted for the Henoko new base construction project, work started in
October 2015 with the onshore component, but a soil properties test which had begun in2014 found that the seabed of Oura Bay has a thick accumulation of cohesive soil and othersubstances (“soft ground”), thereby necessitating ground improvement.
Although there are many different opinions about the soft ground that are based on the soil
properties test data, a government document (“Report on Findings Regarding Design andConstruction for Ground Improvement,” below, “Report”) compiled findings which claimthat it is possible to secure the requisite stability by means of additional ground
improvement. According to the Report, because the soft ground extends down to a depth of
90 meters at its deepest, the necessary ground improvement would consist in driving 77,000
sand piles into the seabed.
On April 21, 2020 the Okinawa Defense Bureau filed an Application for Approval of
Changes to the Use of the Reclamation Site and for Changes to the Design Overview(below, “Application for Approval of Changes in Public Water Body Reclamation”) withthe governor of Okinawa. An overview of the post-change project is shown in Figure 2 (theappended plan for the Application for Approval of Changes in Public Water Body
Reclamation).
Although the Application for Approval of Changes in Public Water Body Reclamation
was submitted for public notice and inspection from September 8 to 28, 2020, the governorof Okinawa has yet to pass judgment on the application.

Additionally, a reassessment and other examinations are being conducted of theprocedures involved in carrying out ground improvement work (using the sand drain
method, sand compaction pile method, and paper drain method) for the Henoko new baseconstruction project as planned in accordance with the Application for Approval of
Changes in Public Water Body Reclamation. The construction schedule would be nine
years and three months from the start of work based on the post-change schedule until
completion, which would be further lengthened because about three more years would beneeded to build post-completion facilities. Construction work involving reclamation would
cost an estimated ¥720 billion (the project’s total cost would be about ¥930 billion.
•
Problems with the Application for Approval of Changes
The soft ground will affect the stability of the seawall and other structures, and lead to
subsidence. And because it could be as deep as 90 meters, the needed ground improvement
work would be unprecedented. In conjunction with that, changes in the plan would mean alonger construction schedule and a larger project scale than before the application forchanges.
Geologists have pointed out not only the soft ground, but also the possibility of an active
fault directly below the planned runways. Further, it is anticipated that this large-scale
ground improvement work will bring about additional grave and substantial environmental
impacts which cannot be overlooked, such as impacts on marine organisms in the area due
to seabed vibration caused by work such as: driving many sand piles; dispersion of cloudy
water from sediment kicked up from the seabed by construction work; changes in bottom
material by dredging and other operations, and changes in water quality associated withthem; as well as noise from the operations of many boats when work is being performed.
Hence there are serious concerns about impacts on the marine organisms that live in thearea, including dugongs, sea turtles, fish, corals, and aquatic plants.
In light of the foregoing, this large-scale ground improvement work will likely change thehighly unusual geographical features of the marine area which integrates the Cape Henoko
area and its coral reef with Oura Bay, whose characteristics range from open-sea to closedbay environments, thereby likely causing the extinction of diverse and valuable species, andirrevocably damaging a highly biodiverse ecosystem.
•
Summation
As observed above, the Henoko new base construction project as it was before theapplication for changes likewise featured inadequate environmental conservation measures.
By adding ground improvement work to the original plan, the impact on biodiversity in
the Cape Henoko/Oura Bay area would be heavier: corals and seagrass meadows would
suffer heavy, irreversible damage, thereby increasing the possibility that the fish, shellfish,
and benthos which live there would decrease or go extinct.
(4) The Henkoko New Base Construction Project Should Be Suspended•
Problems Involving the Environmental Impact Assessment Law
The Environmental Impact Assessment Law requires the project proponent of a projectsuch as reclamation of a public water body under the Public Water Body Reclamation Act
to properly file an EIA for a class-1 project (Environmental Impact Assessment Law,
Article 2 (2) (1) (g)).

•Article 38 (1) of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law states, “The project
proponent must implement a target project giving due consideration for environmental
conservation in accordance with the content described in the EIS,” and the interpretation isthat this has been violated “if the project content has been substantially changed after workon the project has started, to the extent that it is considered proof that the project was notstarted with proper environmental consideration.” Further, if a project is implemented with
content that is markedly different from its description in the assessment, thereby bringing
about problems relating to environmental conservation, it is thought that this is possible
grounds for cancellation of a license or other permit (source: Chikuji kaisetsu kankyou
eikyou hyouka-hou kaiteiban (“Article-by-article commentary on the Environmental Impact
Assessment Law, revised edition”), p. 191).
The Application for Approval of Changes in Public Water Body Reclamation claimed theneed for additional work including ground improvement work in Oura Bay in order to deal
with soft ground, as noted previously. With the change in the seawall position and the
addition of a soil repository, it is evident that these changes will raise concerns about the
impacts on the local ecosystem. This can be judged a situation in which project content has
been substantially changed, and it therefore involves problems under the Environmental
Impact Assessment Law.
Problems Involving the Public Water Body Reclamation Act
The Public Water Body Reclamation Act, Article 4 (1) (ii) provides that the requirements
for a reclamation license are that “the reclamation adequately takes environmental
conservation and disaster prevention into consideration.”
Because the act of reclamation, which changes a body of water into land, is an irreversible
act with a heavy environmental impact, these requirements were prescribed to carefully
examine whether sufficient consideration has been given to matters such as conservation of
the affected marine environment, of the natural environment, and of marine resources withregard to the effects of reclamation itself, such as the loss of marine areas, changes innatural shorelines, changes in tidal currents and other phenomena, and cloudy water during
construction.
“Adequately take into consideration” in Item ii means that proper measures are taken after
having determined the situation and impacts, and that the measures are deemed sufficient inextent. If the situation and impacts have not been sufficiently determined, or if sufficientmeasures have not been taken, it is construed that the conditions of Item ii have not beenmet, and that the requirements for a reclamation license are lacking.
An EIA has not been performed for the Henoko new base construction project in order todetermine the extent of impacts on organisms in the construction zone that are caused bysand compaction pile driving in conjunction with changes in the construction method meant
to address the soft ground problem, as described above. This indicates that the situation andimpacts have not been sufficiently determined.
Further, as noted above, experts have made observations on the feasibility of performing
ground improvement work because of the soft ground, and on the possibility of an active
fault. In light of these observations, and judging by the requirement of “adequately taking… disaster prevention into consideration,” at this point in time there are doubts as towhether the requirements of the Public Water Body Reclamation Act, Article 4 (1) (ii) are
fulfilled.
•
Summation
Environmental conservation measures for the Henoko new base construction project are
insufficient, and despite the fact that the Application for Approval of Changes in Public
Water Body Reclamation calls for major changes in construction methods, an adequate
study of environmental impacts has not been performed. These facts are seen as
problematic considering the aims of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law and the
Public Water Body Reclamation Act. For these and other reasons, the government should
perform a new EIA in conjunction with the design changes, and then seek approval fromthe governor of Okinawa.
Additionally, because a new EIA has not been performed in conjunction with the designchanges, the government should suspend the Henoko new base construction project.
4. Conclusion
Based on the reasons detailed above, KFBA asks the government to immediately
suspend work on the Henoko new base construction project.
September 21, 2021
Kyushu Federation of Bar Associations
Seiichi Morimoto, Director