"Miracle tidal flat" disappears November 16th, 18:55

"It seems that reclamation work has begun on the tidal flats. It's about water in my ears."

A video was sent from a researcher at me who was interviewing about the impact of the reconstruction from the earthquake on the ecosystem.

Dump trucks were seen passing by, and excavators were throwing earth and sand into the sea.

Construction began on the tidal flats of "Otomoura" in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, which is known for its miraculous Ipponmatsu.

Miracle of "Otomoura" after the earthquake

"Otomoura" is a small cove in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture.

Originally, the place where the tidal flats had spread was reclaimed in the 1965's to increase food production after the war and became farmland.

However, due to the tsunami caused by the earthquake, the embankment collapsed and water accumulated.

A "miracle" tidal flat that happened to appear in a place that once disappeared.

How will that place change?

Professor Masatoshi Matsumasa of Iwate Medical University has conducted a survey at the request of the Ministry of the Environment.

The tidal flats created by the tsunami became a paradise for many creatures as the days went by.

"Unenashitomayagai" and "Soft-shell clam" designated as near-threatened species in the Red Data Book of the Ministry of the Environment.

A mantis shrimp that lives only in Otomoura in Iwate prefecture called "Balsanajaco".

The number of species whose habitat was confirmed increased from 49 in 2013 to 60 in 2015 and 2016 and 88 in 2018, and 161 have been confirmed so far. Has been done.

It is rare for such a diverse and rich ecosystem to be formed in a short period of time.

In 2016, it was selected as an "important wetland" by the Ministry of the Environment.

Already mostly lost

In mid-September, I went to Rikuzentakata with Professor Matsumasa to check the situation at the site.

A large amount of earth and sand had already been piled up in the central part of the tidal flat.

It is said that it was the place where biodiversity was most preserved.

Professor Matsumasa sighed, "The history of living things for 10 years after the earthquake has been returned to a blank slate. I don't know if it will be restored, and even if it does, it will take time."

Construction has gone through the necessary process

When I called the Fisheries Division of Rikuzentakata City, which is in charge of the construction, the staff came to the seawall at the site.

Then, he explained the construction plan while showing the drawings.

A staff member explained, "The construction was planned for a long time, and after the earthquake, there was a request from the local residents to regenerate this place into the same tidal flat as before, so we will create a tidal flat." did.

The piled up earth and sand is temporarily placed, and in the future it is planned to be smoothed into a slope and covered with sand to regenerate it as a tidal flat.

In planning, he talked to biology and civil engineering experts and held a briefing session for local residents before the construction.

Will you reclaim the tidal flats and regenerate them?

I wasn't sure what that meant, but I asked if I wouldn't consider the tidal flat being selected as an important wetland by the Ministry of the Environment.

Then, a surprising answer came back.

"I haven't heard of it as an important wetland," said an

official who called other departments in the city on the spot to confirm, but repeated the explanation that he had not heard of it.

He pointed out, "This is a land managed by the Fisheries Division. I haven't heard of any surveys by the Ministry of the Environment, and if I do, I should say something to the city."

Important wetlands not recognized?

What does it mean that the important information of important wetlands is not recognized by the city that promotes the regeneration of tidal flats?

When he contacted the Ministry of the Environment, he explained that each municipality should be contacted through the prefectures when making a selection.

Therefore, when I asked the Environment Department of Iwate Prefecture, it was said that in August 2015, before Otomoura was selected, information from the Ministry of the Environment was sent to each municipality in the form of confirmation for selection. ..

When I contacted the Living Environment Section of the Town Development Promotion Division, which is in charge of the environment at Rikuzentakata City Hall, it was said that there was no record and I did not know.

An official of the Ministry of the Environment said, "If information on important wetlands has not been communicated, we must consider how to publicize it."

On the other hand, Rikuzentakata City has started a project to regenerate the tidal flats in this place in 2011, the year of the earthquake.

The report of the investigation that the city requested the think tank was issued in 2012.

The document entitled "Regeneration of tidal flats and examination of biodiversity in the subsidence area of ​​the Great East Japan Earthquake" states that "a new biological environment has taken root in the period from the time of the earthquake to the present, and while maintaining this, It is necessary to actively improve by creating tidal flats. "

However, the plan decided in 2011 was not put into full-scale implementation after that because the budget was not available.

No fact-finding survey has been conducted since 2012.

And suddenly, the business started to move.

After consulting with the Reconstruction Agency, the city decided to use the surplus soil generated by the reconstruction work to level the tidal flats.

It is said that a reconstruction budget has been set up to use for the disposal of surplus soil.

Then, from May to July, briefing sessions were held for representatives of fisheries cooperatives and local districts.

After the earthquake, the information designated as the rich ecosystems and important wetlands that have been nurtured on the tidal flats in the last decade was rarely considered.

Expert group requesting temporary suspension of landfill

On October 1, a group of experts submitted a request to Rikuzentakata City to suspend the reclamation work.

It is a committee of an academic society made up of specialists in benthic organisms (small creatures that live on the bottom of the water).

With the current method of injecting a large amount of construction surplus soil of 54,000 cubic meters, the existing tidal flat ecosystem will be lost, so landfill will be suspended and the method of surplus soil treatment will be reexamined to protect the tidal flats and organisms. I said it was necessary.

"Regeneration of tidal flats by artificial creation should be applied to'deteriorated'locations where ecosystems are not currently maintained," he said in the city's plan.

Regarding the request, Minister of the Environment Koizumi stated at a press conference as follows.

Minister of the Environment Koizumi

"The entire Hirota Bay, including the tidal flats around Otomoura, has been selected as a wetland of high importance from the perspective of biodiversity. It does not impose any legal restrictions, but it does not impose any legal restrictions on businesses, etc. Since it is selected to encourage consideration, please use it appropriately as basic material. I heard that the city conducted hearings from multiple experts during the construction, and continued to give opinions from various experts. It is important to hear and carry out the construction properly. It is important to proceed with the reconstruction project in an integrated manner, and to proceed with the reconstruction project carefully. "

Rikuzentakata City responded to the request on October 15.

In the response, "We will continue to proceed with the construction by the environmentally friendly construction method of Hirota Bay, while listening to the opinions of the experts who are instructing the construction."

Then, the import of the surplus soil, which had been temporarily stopped after the request was issued, will be resumed from the 19th.

In addition, it is said that the place where the stream flows on both sides of the tidal flat of Otomoura will be left as it is to reduce the impact on benthic organisms, and the number of experts who have received advice so far during construction is increased 4 He said he would ask people for advice and monitoring.

Experts who advised on city planning

We interviewed Professor Taku Asahida of Kitasato University, who specializes in aquatic life and ecosystems, out of four experts who the city asked for advice again.

Professor Asahida was asked for advice on throwing in the surplus soil, saying, "I want you to consider the existing biodiversity and the environment. I want you to be able to see the terrain, "he said by email or phone.

Meanwhile, Professor Asahida also talked about the complicated circumstances of Otomoura.

It was created as a reclaimed land, but the crops did not grow well, and before the earthquake, the earth and sand from the construction of the highway was placed.

The tidal flats created by the tsunami were covered with debris rather than mud and sand.

Local residents wanted a tidal flat where they could catch clams, and the site was far from that.

In addition, since the 2012 survey, the city has not conducted an environmental survey of the site, and the construction has suddenly started with the original plan.

▽ The city hall itself has been damaged and collects information and evaluates risks. It was recognized that sufficient personnel could not be secured,

▽ I wanted to finish the project within the fiscal year due to the budget of the reconstruction project

,

▽ I was

aware that the construction would be done in a reclaimed land before the earthquake, not in the sea but on land. He said that

it was difficult to give 100% consideration to the existing natural environment.

On the other hand, Professor Asahida inspected the site after the request was issued and said, "I had the impression that the temporary soil left over was placed on the tidal flats and the tidal flats. I had the impression that it should have been placed a little further on the land side." I talked to him.

Consideration elsewhere?

Otomoura is about to damage the current rich ecosystem due to the injection of earth and sand after the earthquake.

In fact, in the swamp, which is in the immediate vicinity, consideration was given to leaving the natural tidal flats as they were, despite the same reconstruction work.

It is a reconstruction work of a swamp connected to the sea, where there is a miracle pine tree called "Furukawanuma".

The original plan was to harden the swamp with concrete, but in the end, a construction method was adopted that left the tidal flats created by the tsunami in the swamp.

At this place, Professor Matsumasa advised as a member of a committee created by the national, prefectural, and municipal governments.

Professor Matsumasa says, "As a person I have been researching in Otomoura for many years, I should have communicated the importance to many people by holding more nature observation meetings for citizens."

Otomoura that you can't see from the district

What do the locals think about tidal flats?

When I talked to one of the fishermen, he said, "I hope Otomoura will become a place where you can catch clams like in the past, and children can dig clamming."

In addition, when I spoke to a woman who was a bereaved family member after the earthquake in the district, she refused that the bereaved family had various ideas and said, "Many people were killed in the tsunami around Otomoura and are still missing. To be honest, I think there are many residents who want to forget, see, or get involved. "

Otomoura is surrounded by a seawall with a height of 12.5 meters built by the prefecture, which cannot be seen from the town side.

Perhaps the local interest in the natural environment of the tidal flats, which is neither psychologically nor visually visible, has necessarily increased.

Hiroki Kanno, who took up this issue in the city council, said, "Neither we city council nor citizens were able to" monitor "environmental protection.

I hope that the reconstruction infrastructure will be completed as soon as possible, and while trying hard, the environment may have been neglected without making a profit.

Some citizens have a strong image of a place where clamming can be done in the old days, even if it is called nature restoration, and there may not have been much awareness of biodiversity. "

Reconstruction and the environment Is the sacrifice of the natural environment really unavoidable?

Now that the city has resumed construction, Professor Matsumasa says, "The rare meaning of natural restoration of tidal flats that were already born by the tsunami has been lost. At least we have to bring it to the best possible shape as an artificial tidal flat."

He points out that "there should be nothing like Otomoura this time."

Professor Matsumasa is particularly concerned that the reconstruction work may have made the hearing of experts on environmental conservation formal, and in some cases sound. It may be a precedent that even a tidal flat can be filled.

In the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, 10 years have passed since the earthquake, and the construction of seawalls and floodgates has come to a close.

There is no choice but to make some sacrifices for the cause of reconstruction from the earthquake.

Only aquatic organisms.

Many may think so.

But if reconstruction was urgent and the lack of information sharing and awareness resulted in unnecessary sacrifices, I think it should have been avoided.

On October 18, the day before the construction resumed, I went to see the state of Otomoura again.

Salmon were seen in the stream flowing into the tidal flats.

He was trying hard to trace back a shallow concrete three-sided waterway.

Creatures are strong.

I thought I should continue to interview.

* We are soliciting opinions and information from everyone regarding earthquake disaster reconstruction and environmental conservation.

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Soichiro Kurose

2007. He joined

Okayama station, Scientific and Cultural part from 2014 through the Fukuoka office.

In addition to marine and astronomical issues, we are currently focusing on cyber security, AI ethics, and Internet social issues.

In addition, we continue to cover the watersides of the whole country regarding the conservation of ecosystems and resource management such as eels and corals.