Victory for Okinawa dugong against US military

This video is called Save the Dugong – Okinawa Dugong.

From Wildlife Extra:

Endangered Okinawa Dugong Saved from US Marine Corps – For 3 Months

Bush Exempts Navy from Court Order Protecting Whales

Dubya has a recent record of overturning legislation in favour of the US Armed forces, click here to see how he has recently exmpted the US Navy from whale protection rules.

January 2008. The seagrass habitat of the endangered Okinawa dugong is safe from the U.S. Department of Defense, at least for the next 90 days. The sea mammal will continue to swim in Henoko Bay off the Japanese island of Okinawa in the place where the United States plans to build an airbase.

US Department of Defense in Violation of Act

A federal judge in San Francisco Wednesday has ruled that the Department of Defense, DOD, is in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act for failing to consider the impacts of a new airbase on the dugong in order to avoid or mitigate any harm.

The act requires agencies of the U.S. government to consider the impacts on cultural and historic resources in other nations when undertaking activities outside the United States.

Dugong Classified as Vulnerable – Critically Endangered in Japan

The dugong is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN-World Conservation Union due to habitat destruction and degradation, as well as human exploitation. The Japan Ministry of the Environment recently listed the dugong as critically endangered in Japan.

The dugong is significant in Okinawan culture. It is associated with traditional Okinawan creation mythology, and is sometimes considered to be the progenitor of the local people. Because of its cultural significance, the dugong is listed as a protected ‘natural monument’ on the Japanese Register of Cultural Properties.

US Marine Corps Base to Move

U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is located in Ginowan City on Okinawa, and due to social and economic changes, is now completely surrounded by urban development. Both the Marines and the Japanese want the facility moved out of the city.

Local residents voted against the base in a referendum, but Japanese and U.S. authorities have paid scant attention to the vote.

DOD plans call for construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility, FRF, about two miles offshore on reclaimed land and the reef next to the U.S. military’s Camp Schwab. The location is in Henoko Bay and squarely in the midst of dugong habitat.

Dugong as Plaintiff

The lawsuit was brought by three individual Japanese citizens, six American and Japanese environmental associations, and the Okinawa dugong, which is listed as a plaintiff in court documents.

In her ruling, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel wrote, ‘The current record contains no evidence that a single official from the DOD with responsibility for the FRF has considered or assessed the available information on the dugong or the effects of the FRF.’