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From the Olympics Toward Tomorrow
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Can the Himegifu Butterfly be protected?
- Construction shows little concern for the environment
"What do you think of public enterprises?" A drunken man's voice was heard coming from the handset. He continued with, "What is preservation of nature, anyway." Those words even now settle heavily at the bottom of her heart.
Hideyo Koyama (age 59) of Kamishiro in Hakuba Village, is the leader of a group of nature enthusiasts called the "Butterfly and Wildflower Group." The anonymous phone call came to her home on the evening of September 6, 1996.
The Inugawa River runs nearby her home from Japan's Northern Alps. On that day, Mrs. Koyama had gone together with the Prefecture's Himekawa Erosion Control Office and erosion control contractors to perform a field study in a growth of trees nearby the river.
 Riverbed improvements being performed at Hakuba Village. How public works projects will be structured to protect the environment after the Olympics.
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The study pointed out the possibility that a construction road being built through the grove of trees may be through a breeding ground for the Himegifu Butterfly, which is a protected species in Hakuba Village. Koyama made appeals for protective measures. A certain type of feeding grass (called "Usubasaishin" in Japanese) was confirmed to exist in the area and the Erosion Control Office decided to stop construction. It was then decided that another environmental assessment would be performed.
The construction is expected to take three years since its beginning in fiscal year 1996. Barriers and embankments designed to provide landslide protection for nearby pensions and homes were in the construction plans.
Originally contractors had little knowledge that there was a Himegifu butterfly breeding ground in the area. The Erosion Control Office and contractors had not performed any advance environmental impact studies. This was due to the fact that in 1994 the Prefecture had performed a "Water and greenery development study" just a few hundred meters away. This data was used as a basic environmental reference.
In this study only 24 species of butterfly were identified in the area. The Himegifu was one of those species, but they had only been observed on ridges, not in the river basin.
Koyama, who moved from Tokyo to the area in 1977 and lost her 70 year old husband two years ago, had together with him continued viewing butterflies while operating their ski lodge. She says that the habitat on the banks of the river is very favorable to butterflies and had photographed at least 68 species there including the Gifu and Himegifu varieties. She was simply astonished that protective measures which the Erosion Control Office originally pursued was based on government data so contrary to what she herself had observed.
Strict environmental measures have been implemented for Nagano Olympic public works construction projects. But will the same kind of environmentally concerned philosophy be applied to other general public works projects?
The environmental impact assessment, conducted to measure the effects of development on an area before work is performed, reflected on the work's progress. The prefecture's system for performing these studies was implemented in 1984. However, these studies have targeted only eight prefectural and local projects such as preparations for the Matsumoto airport and the Olympic cross-country skiing venue in Hakuba. The studies are limited to large scale projects such as "golf course developments larger than 80 hectares" and "construction on four-lane roads more than 10 km in length."
Smaller fixed scale projects such as golf courses larger than 30 hectares in area, amusement parks and vacation property are required to conduct environmental impact studies based on Prefectural environmental protection regulations. But public works projects are not subject to these requirements. There is an idea out there that "there are no problems with public works projects." As a result, public works projects if anything lack a concern for environmental protection, something that could ultimately be taken care of beforehand.
A prefectural environmental strategy was formed in February 1997. During the decision-making process a special committee within the Prefecture Environmental Council made sure that consideration for the environment in public works projects would be included in the new strategic plans, stating, "we will look into the technical requirements and structure of introducing environmental consideration into projects that are not now subject to environmental assessment regulations."
However, that line never made it into the formally announced plan. The Prefectural government's Environmental Protection Section asked for the omission, the reason being that the special committee member's are currently revising the prefecture's environmental assessment system. It is also said that there was strong resistance to the line by other local government bodies.
A second environmental study was performed at the Inugawa River on May 6, 1997. Five or six Himegifu butterflies were seen flying in the area. Koyama, who was also present during the study, said, "there is no other place in the village where one could see so many at once."
On May 14, soon after the study was completed, the Himegawa Erosion Control Office reseeded the Usubasaishin to a place outside the originally planned construction site.
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Copyright 1999 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun