Ryu Matsumoto Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9G U

Minister of Environment Telephone 020-3353 2000

Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan guardian.co.uk
Godochosha No. 5,
Kasumigaseki 1
-2-2, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 100-8975,
Japan

October 5, 2010

Dear Minister of Environment,

I am writing on behalf of the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom and our readers
worldwide to ask you to consider a proposal for protecting Japan’s biodiversity.

The action has been proposed by our online readers and developed by professional scientists. It
is based by scientific evidence.

We believe it will both protect an important species and habitat and send a clear signal to the
negotiations at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP10 in Nagoya later this month
that the decisive, concrete actions can and must be taken to halt the alarming decline in global
biodiversity.

Our campaign, Biodiversity 100, has identified 26 achievable actions in a number of countries
and has the support of the international scientific community. We are sharing our proposals with
journalists around the world, who will be able to measure the success of their national and local
governments in implementing the actions we have put forward. For more details of the
campaign please go to guardian.co.uk/biodiversity100.

The specific proposals we request that you consider are supporting global efforts to protect
bluefin tuna, and implementing steps to preserve the biodiversity on Okinawa Island (more
details below).

We kindly request you to react publicly to our recommendation, both through national media
and through your statements to the CBD COP10 plenary. We also urge you to consider
including our proposed action when you revise your National Biodiversity Strategy and Action
Plan after COP10.

As a major international media outlet with a global audience, the Guardian takes seriously its
responsibility to report on the planet’s biodiversity crisis. We would be very keen to hear back
from you about your country’s efforts to protect the natural environment and, especially, to hear
of your reaction to our proposal.
Yours Sincerely,

Alan Rusbridger
Editor-in-Chief
The Guardian
CC: Mr. Masayoshi Mizuno, Director, Global Environment Division, International Cooperation
Bureau
Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive secretary, CBD

Bluefin Tuna
Action: Support global efforts to protect bluefin tuna

Description: Bluefish tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is an symbol of marine conversation. The

fish can reach more than four metres long and weigh over 600kg. The species is in danger of a
population crash, but in March, efforts to place the species on the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) most protected list - so-called
Appendix 1 – were blocked by Japan and other countries. This would have made international
trade illegal. Most trade occurs between the Mediterranean where they are caught, and Japan,
where one fish can sell for more than US $100,000. Japan should change its stance on bluefin
tuna conservation and support a ban on international trade.

Evidence: Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks have fallen below 15% of their historic levels. The
scientific consensus on the issue is described in a letter to Science in June. It states:“[The
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas] Scientific Committee
concluded (1) that there was a 95% probability that BFT [bluefish tuna] had declined to the
extent that it would qualify for an Appendix I listing. This conclusion was endorsed by the
majority.”

Okinawa Island
Action: Preserve the biodiversity on Okinawa Island

Description: Okinawa Island is the largest island in the subtropical Ryukyu chain off the
south-western coast of mainland Japan – and has been described as “with some stretch of the
imagination, Japan’s equivalent of Hawaii”. A quarter of the Yanbaru forest on the northern tip
of the island is occupied by a US army base. There are already 22 US military helipads in the
training area in Yanbaru, but a further seven helipads are planned within two of the best-
preserved areas of the base. Appropriate legislation for conserving this region should be
established, and the Okinawa defense bureau, who are commissioned to build the helipads,
should consider alternative sites that will not impact Okinawa’s unique biodiversity.

Evidence: Yanbaru’s forests are the final stand for a number of threatened endemic species
such as the critically endangered Okinawa spiny rat (Tokudaia muenninki), Noguchi’s
woodpecker (Dendrocopos noguchii) and Namiye’s frog (Limnonectes namiyei). Yanbaru’s
natural forests are critical habitat for many of Okinawa Island’s native mammal and bird
populations, but they are being destroyed by clearcutting and the removal of undergrowth. A
paper on the conservation value of the region warned of the “imminent extinction crisis among
the endemic species of the Yunbaru forests”.

For the full version of this text with links to scientific papers, please visit the Biodiversity 100 site:
guardian.co.uk/biodiversity100