By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Nov 8 1999 (IPS)

Public support for Japan’s hosting of the World Exposition in 2005 is fast warning, after conservationists revealed that building the site would mean destroying rare wildlife and biodiversity in the area.

Aware of the public outcry, officials of Aichi prefecture in central Japan, which will host the Expo, have promised to streamline the 540-hectare development site where the international event will be hosted.

Protesting green groups say the Exposition blueprint involves the conversion of hundreds of hectares of forest area that are the nesting ground for the goshawk, a species of wild eagle that since 1993 has been on Japan’s endangered list.

“The issue (fight to stop exposition site) is an important one for it tests the government’s pledge to protect the environment,” explains Yukihiro Kominami of the Wild Bird Society of Japan (WBSJ).

The Kaisho on Mori, as the forest for the planned site is called, is the habitat for 37 varieties of wild plants and animals including the goshawk, according to Japan’s Environment Agency.

Environmentalists also point out that the forests, which are close to Seto City, are important sources of recreation and relaxation for urban residents — another reason why the area must be preserved at all costs.

In the wake of the controversy, the Environment Agency along with WBSJ is conducting a research study into the nesting patterns of the goshawk. This will determine the final decision on the suitability of the location of exposition site in Aichi.

Conservationists acknowledge that “important steps (have been) taken by the government to consider the environment”.

But they have also vowed to keep fighting until officials promise to stop plans for new roads, buildings and a housing project that they say will destroy a large natural habitat that is key to the survival of the wild eagle.

So far, the environmental row that has pitted the Wild Bird Society of Japan and several local conservation groups against Aichi local officials and the central government rages on.

Not least, the activists say the Japanese organisers should the very theme they are using for the 2005 World Exposition: ‘Beyond development: Rediscovering Nature’s Wisdom’.

“We immediately seized upon the theme to point out that the planned Exposition, especially the housing site, was against what the government was proclaiming. I think this strategy really worked for us,” explained Kominami.

Likewise, the discovery by conservation groups and government officials in April this year of nests of the goshawk in the wooded area planned for the Exposition site, confirmed for critics the urgency of changing plans.

In May, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, which backed the proposed housing scheme into which Yen 12 billion has already been spent, promised in a letter to alter plans for the project.

“There is no way the project will go ahead as before the discovery of the nest,” said the letter, which to conservationists is a landmark in getting the government to heed environmental priorities.

Green groups also point out that the Kaisho no Mori forest is an important testing ground for a newly passed law that requires companies taking on development projects to conduct an environmental assessment survey that maps out the impact of the proposed site on the environment.

In February, such an assessment was produced to the Expo organizers, in which companies argued that while several rare plants might be lost by developing the forest, the damage could be avoided or kept to the minimum.

But Aichi officials remain keen on hosting the Expo, which they believe will boost the prefecture’s economic standing.

Aichi Governor Massaki Kanda, has expressed concern about the delay in construction plans that would, he points out, upset the planned Exposition.

Conservationists say one reason why Aichi prefecture was keen to build such a grand Expo site was because it is billed as a valuable step toward helping the local government cope with a huge budget deficit and in heavy debt.

A spokesman for the prefectural government, who said he preferred not to give his name, said budget revenue from hosting the Exposition cannot be disclosed.

But official material says the Expo is aimed at targeting 25 million visitors in the first six months, and will be a crucial financial project not to mention the prestige that accompanies the event.

Aichi officials are hoping that conservationists will accept the scaled down-plans in the forest in order to allow construction to go ahead.

But Japanese activists have something else in mind.

Said Kominami: “With the public behind us, we consider the Expo site the crucial beginning of developing a more ecologically minded Japan, a step not only important for the Japanese but the rest of the world where Japan is major player.”

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