■沖縄ノグチゲラ「自然の権利」訴訟　和解（2004.05.17）　　

増田尚さん（大阪弁護士会）から情報をいただきました。ありがとうございました。

（原告、米国自然保護NGO、CBD（Center for Biological Diversity）が出したプレスリリースです。この件に関する日本の報道は、琉球新報http://www.ryukyushimpo.co.jp/news01/2004/2004_05/040519h.html）

For Immediate Release: May 17, 2004

For More Information: Peter Galvin (707) 986-7805

Legal Accord To Speed Protection For Okinawa Woodpecker And Over 70 Of The World's Rarest Bird Species

Washington, D.C.

A federal judge today approved a legal settlement between the Center for
Biological Diversity and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The
settlement, which was approved by Judge Rosemary Collyer, forces the FWS to
act on Endangered Species Act listing petitions for the Okinawa woodpecker
(Sapheopipo noguchii) and 72 other of the world's rarest bird species.

The agreement comes in response to a lawsuit filed in Federal District
Court in Washington D.C. in December of 2003 by the Tucson, Arizona based
Center for Biological Diversity. The suit asserted that the FWS violated
the law by failing to take action on a petition submitted in 1980 to list
the woodpecker and other imperiled bird species under the Endangered
Species Act. The settlement calls for the FWS to publish in the Federal
Register by the end of May 2004, a plan for processing the petition and
bringing the agency into compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the FWS has one year from the date
of submission of a petition to either propose to add a species to the list
of protected species or determine the species does not warrant listing
under the ESA.

The Okinawa woodpecker is one of the world's rarest bird species. It lives
only in undisturbed, subtropical, evergreen forests of Yanbaru, the
northern mountainous region of the island of Okinawa, Japan. The
woodpecker's habitat is threatened by a U.S. military proposal to construct
new roads and helicopter landing pads and associated military
infrastructure in prime woodpecker habitat in the Yanbaru forest. Other
threats to the woodpecker include forest clear-cutting, agriculture, and
other development.

Peter Galvin, Pacific Director of the Center for Biological Diversity,
stated, "We are pleased that with this settlement, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service will finally be moving forward to add the Okinawa
woodpecker and these other rare gems of nature to the list of endangered
species." Galvin added, "We are hopeful that with renewed attention to the
woodpecker's plight, government agencies that have been planning activities
that would destroy habitat for the species will change course and protect
the habitat instead."

Projects proposed by U.S. government agencies, the World Bank and other
multilateral lending agencies that would impact an endangered species
receive a higher level of scrutiny. Listing of species under the Endangered
Species Act also restricts buying and selling of endangered species.

In addition to the woodpecker, 72 other types of imperiled birds ranging
from New Zealand to South America, from Taiwan to the Galapagos are
covered under the settlement, including the Lanyu scops owl of Taiwan, the
Colombian grebe, the giant ibis of Laos and Cambodia and the blue throated
macaw of Bolivia.

LIST OF SPECIES INVOLVED IN SETTLEMENT

1. Colombian Grebe (Colombia)
2. Cook's Petrel (Chatham Islands, New Zealand)
3. Chatham Petrel (Chatham Islands, New Zealand)
4. Magenta Petrel (Chatham Islands, New Zealand)
5. Galapagos Petrel (Galapagos Islands, Ecuador)
6. Utila Chachalaca (Utila Island, Honduras)
7. Cauca Guan (Colombia)
8. Cantabrian Capercaillie (Spain)
9. Gorgeted Wood-Quail (Colombia)
10. Italian Grey Partridge (Italy)
11. Takaha (New Zealand)
12. Bar-winged Rail (Fiji)
13. Chatham Oystercatcher (Chatham Islands, New Zealand)
14. Black Stilt (New Zealand)
15. Marquesan Imperial Pigeon (Marquesas Islands)
16. Orange-fronted Parakeet (New Zealand)
17. Uvea Parakeet (Uvea, New Caledonia)
18. Southeastern Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo (Brazil)
19. Lanyu Scops Owl (Lanyu Island, Taiwan)
20. Chilean Woodstar (Peru, Chile)
21. Margaretta's Hermit (Brazil)
22. Hairy Hermit (Panama, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, the Guinas and
Brazil)
23. Okinawa Woodpecker (Okinawa Island, Japan)
24. Black-hooded Antwren (Brazil)
25. Fringe-backed Fire-eye (Brazil)
26. St. Lucia Forest Thrush (St. Lucia, West Indies)
27. Grey-headed blackbird (Norfolk Island, South Pacific)
28. Eiao Polynesian Warbler (Marquesas Islands)
29. Moorea reed-warbler (Moorea Island/Society Islands, South Pacific)
30. Long-legged thicketbird (Fiji)
31. Codfish Island Fernbird (Codfish Island, New Zealand)
32. Ua Pu Flycatcher (Marquesas Islands, South Pacific)
33. Ghizo White-eye (Solomon Islands)
34. Cherry-throated Tanager (Brazil)
35. Lord Howe Pied Currawong (Lord Howe Island, New South Wales)
36. Kalinowski's tinamou (Peru)
37. Junin flightless grebe (Peru)
38. Beck's petrel (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands)
39. Fiji petrel (Fiji)
40. Heinroth's Shearwater (Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea,
Solomon Islands)
41. Greater Adjutant (South Asia)
42. Giant Ibis (Laos, Cambodia)
43. Andean Flamingo (Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina)
44. Brazilian Merganser (Brazil)
45. Southern Helmeted Curassow (Brazil)
46. Blue-billed Curassow (Colombia)
47. Bogota Rail (Colombia)
48. Junin Rail (Peru)
49. Jerdon's Courser (India)
50. Slender-billed Curlew (Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bulgaria,
Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, southern Europe, Greece, Italy, Turkey,
Africa, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia).
51. Salmon-crested Cockatoo (South Moluccas, Indonesia)
52. Blue-throated Macaw (Bolivia)
53. Black-breasted Puffleg (Ecuador)
54. Esmeraldas Woodstar (Ecuador)
55. Yellow-browed Toucanet (Peru)
56. Helmeted Woodpecker (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina)
57. Royal Cinclodes (Peru, Bolivia)
58. White-browed Tit-Spinetail (Peru)
59. Brown-banded Antpitta (Colombia)
60. Stresemann's Bristlefront (Brazil)
61. Brasilia Tapaculo (Brazil)
62. Grey-winged Cotinga (Brazil)
63. Kaempfer's Tody-Tyrant (Brazil)
64. Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant (Brazil)
65. Bananal Tyrannulet (Brazil)
66. Peruvian Plantcutter (Peru)
67. Gurney's Pitta (Myanmar/Burma, Thailand)
68. Nicefro's Wren (Colombia)
69. Socorro's Mockingbird (Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico)
70. Caerulean Paradise-flycatcher (Sangihe Island, Sulawesi, Indonesia)
71. Tumaco Seedeater (Colombia)
72. Medium Tree-finch (Floreana Island, Galapagos Islands)
73. Black-backed Tanager (Brazil)
(end)
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