Hirofumi Yamashita was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco for his wetland conservation work last April, but the government continues with projects throughout the country that, over the next few years, will destroy most of Japan's tidal flat wetlands. Recently, a group of scholars, journalists and other environmental leaders selected 100 of the worst public works projects in Japan. Certainly the weakness in Japan is a lack of appreciation and effort to preserve intact ecosystems and habitat. A lot of the development that people see as destructive is a reflection of that. There are dams that are harming the biodiversity of rivers, and virtually all of the coastal wetlands are either developed or planned for development.
Japan also remains behind much of the world in matters of wildlife conservation.
The Mammalogical Society of Japan announced last year that about half of the 174 mammal species in and around Japan are in danger of extinction. Ruling Liberal Democratic Party members, in the meantime, want to revise legislation to make it easier to kill wild animals and birds, supposedly in the interest of controlling nuisance wildlife. Under the proposed revision, responsibility for managing wildlife would be decentralized to the local level, where many feel regulating powers would fall into the hands of the would-be destroyers. But the system doesn't work. Which is not to say all is gloom for the environment in Japan.