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dam-l SAVE YOSHINO RIVER, JAPAN
Dear friends,
The Yonshinogawa symposium in Japan would like your help in sending a
message to the Ministry of Construction against a proposed dam on the
Yoshino River. Please send your messages of support to the address below.
Thank you.
Aviva Imhof
International Rivers Network
>
>SAVE YOSHINO RIVER
>One Million Messages to the Ministry of Construction
>
>
>>From its mountain streams through powerful rapids and ending
>up in a lush tidal wetland, the Yoshino River travels nearly 200
>kilometers on its varied and spectacular way to the ocean.
> Flowing across Shikoku, one of Japan's four main islands, the
>Yoshino River is an important and intimate local fixture to the
>thousands of people who live along its banks. It is equally
>important to the thousands who depend on it for water.
> This beautiful river is in danger and needs your help.
> A large-scale dam, roughly 700 meters across, is scheduled
>for construction at a point 13 kilometers upstream from the
>river's mouth. This dam will threaten the river's rich ecosystem
>and rivermouth wetlands that are home to numerous animals,
>some of which are endangered. The river and its wetlands are a
>crucial stopover for migratory birds that use them on their
>journeys between Russia and Australia. If built as planned, the
>dam will damage the river's tidal flats, threaten the migratory
>birds, and fly in the face of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands,
>to which Japan is a contracting party.
> The new dam will replace a nearly 250-year-old stone weir
>that has stood the test of time. This weir attests to the
>foresightedness and ingenuity of riverside residents in past ages.
>It is a simple and effective structure that has become a part of the
>river's ecosystem, working with nature while fulfilling its function
>for the benefit of people. It epitomizes the concept of sustainable
>development.
> On top of the environmental destruction is the outrageous
>cost of the dam. Construction of the dam will run over 100 billion
>yen -- a textbook example of wasted tax money.
> And this would not be the first time. The dam is virtually a
>replica of a highly controversial dam built on the Nagara River's
>mouth near Nagoya City. The Nagara River Estuary Dam was
>opposed by many and sparked a process of rethinking of the
>nation's river management. Obviously this process has not gone
>far enough yet.
> In June, a committee appointed by the government gave the
>Yoshino River Dam the green light, despite opposition from local
>residents.
> Now we would like to ask for your help. To show the
>Japanese government and Ministry of Construction just how
>concerned citizens are and that the world's attention is focused on
>this potential debacle, we would like you to send a message.
> Your message can be your thoughts on rivers, public works
>projects, or anything else appropriate or germane -- we just want
>the government to hear your voice. Hopefully you -- and a million
>others -- will help us forestall this preventable environmental
>disaster.
> Your message will go to the Yoshino River Symposium, an
>all-volunteer grassroots citizens' group in Tokushima City, located
>at the Yoshino River's mouth, and be delivered with all the other
>messages to the appropriate government agencies. Thank you.
>
>Fax: 0886-26-1480 (From Japan)
> 81-886-26-1480 (From overseas)
>E-mail: daiju@mandala.ne.jp
>Postal mail: 4-3-201 Yoshino River Symposium Office
> Minami Maegawa-cho, Tokushima City
> Tokushima Prefecture, 770-0808, Japan
>
>=================
>--
>Rick Davis
>Japan Environment Monitor
>rdavis@yin.or.jp
>http://www.yin.or.jp/user/rdavis/
>
>Note: User name changing from "greenstar" to "rdavis" over the next few
months.
>
>
>
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Aviva Imhof, Mekong Program Coordinator
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94703 USA
Tel: + 1 510 848 1155 (ext. 312), Fax: + 1 510 848 1008
Email: aviva@irn.org, Web: http://www.irn.org
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