JP141Isahaya bay

Site Description

Wetlands

Isahaya Bay Reclamation Project under government management is intended to shut off the inner part of Isahaya Bay (Nagasaki Prefecture) from the sea with floodwalls and then regulating reservoirs and reclaimed lands will be created inside. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry is carrying it forward in order to strengthen its preventive function against flood, high tide and so on, as well as to create new arable lands. Doubting its necessity and worrying about a bad impact on the natural environment that is associated with mudskippers living in the tidal flat as well as shorebirds that visit there, some groups including local nature conservation ones conducted a movement against the project. Nevertheless, the floodwalls were completed in 1997 and the inner part of Isahaya Bay was shut off from the sea. Then, that caused damage to laver farms, etc., and the impact of the reclamation project on the Ariake Sea has been a controversial issue. Therefore, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry opened the floodgate temporarily and conducted a survey to grasp the environmental impact (short-term survey by opening gate), but they couldn't make it clear how much the environment of the Ariake Sea was impacted by shutting off the inner part of the bay.

After that, they discussed whether to conduct medium or long-term surveys, but decided not to carry out either of them in May 2004. That is because it seemed difficult to make it clear how much impact the reclamation project had on the Ariake Sea even with the surveys, and possibly such surveys were quite likely to have another environmental impact.

As for this matter, however, people brought a lawsuit over stopping the reclamation works and it remains to be seen how to deal with the large-scale public works and the environmental conservation. In June 2008, the judge at the Saga local court ordered the government to keep the floodgate open for five years and to conduct surveys.

Area & Coordinates

4,600ha 35°52′N 130°10′E
region: Kyushu Region, Saga; Nagasaki

Category

A4i, A4iii

Protection Status

Unprotected

Conservation issues

• Drainage