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![]() The Nansei Shoto Islands, a chain of some 200 islands off South Western Japan, contain some of the most extensive and biologically diverse coral reefs in the western Pacific. The relative isolation of the islands' marine and terrestrial ecosystems has produced unusual patterns of endemism, leading some biogeographers to refer to the area as the "Galapagos" of the western Pacific. More than 90 percent of Japan's coral reefs fringe the shores of these islands. The Nansei Shoto Islands are also home to many rare species of terrestrial wildlife, such as the endangered iriomote cat (Mayailurus iriomotensis), the amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) and the Okinawa woodpecker (Sapheopipo noguchii). Unfortunately, the Nansei Shoto islands represent one of Japan's foremost ecological disasters. As many as 90 percent of the Nansei Shoto coral reefs may have been lost during the 20 years after the return to Japanese sovereignty in 1972. Since the early 1970s, a number of government sponsored development projects have damaged the fragile terrestrial and marine ecosystems of the Nansei Shoto islands. Soil erosion in particular - from construction, farming and logging - has been devastating to the islands' coral reefs. The global ecological importance of the Nansei Shoto Islands has been recognized since 1980, when they were designated as a priority conservation area by the World Conservation Strategy, which WWF participated in developing.
WWF is currently working to ensure the survival of the Shiraho
reef,
which is
one of the last pristine reefs in the Nansei Shoto islands. WWF has
launched a project to establish the Coral Reef Conservation and Research
Centre in close cooperation with the Okinawan government and local
environmental organisations. The Centre will be a clearinghouse for
research and public education on endangered reefs such
as Shiraho.
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