The Marines vs. the Dugongs

A new military airfield may signal the end of the Okinawan dugong

At one point, the family Dugongidae (in the order of Sirenia) was very diverse.

In the 18th century, one member of the family, the Steller's sea cow, was hunted to extinction.

Now, the only surviving member, the rare dugong, may face the same fate -- because of military expansion.

Related to the manatee (also a member of the Sirenia order), the dugong is a large marine mammal that has had a long relationship with humans.

Five thousand years ago, neolithic humans painted an image of a dugong in Tambun Cave of Ipoh city in the state of Perak, Malaysia.

Now, the United States has a plan to build a 2.5-mile-long airfield in Okinawa that over 400 environmental organizations say will doom the dugong to extinction, according to a recent Scientific American story.

"The Camp Schwab base expansion project would destroy some of the best remaining habitat for the highly endangered Okinawa dugong, one of the rarest marine mammal populations in the world," said Peter Galvin, conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).

In October, the 4th International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress in Barcelona overwhelmingly adopted a motion, the "Promotion of Dugong," during the United Nations 2010 International Year for Biodiversity. It has become a resolution adopted by the IUCN (Res. 4.022).

However, the Japanese government abstained from voting on the motion.

The resolution, "The 2010 International Year of Dugong," recommends that all countries with dugong habitats (including Japan) participate in the memo of understanding.

It also asks that Japan conduct an environmental impact assessment for the construction of the U.S. Marine Corps facility at Henoko, Okinawa, and to establish and declare an action plan to avoid or minimize the adverse effects on the Okinawa dugong.

Many Okinawans are against the plan -- about 20,000 residents protested the presence of the American military last month.

The Okinawan dugongs would likely agree with them.

GET INVOLVED

• Sign a Save the Dugong Campaign Center petition to stop the construction of the military base save the Okinawa dugong from extinction

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image: a dugong near Marsa Alam, Egypt (credit: Julien Willem)