The Ministry of the Environment has decided to solicit candidate sites for releasing birds from all over the country with the aim of establishing the crested ibis, a national special natural monument, outside of Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, which is promoting efforts to return to the wild.
Crested ibis once inhabited a wide area of the country, but temporarily disappeared from the natural world due to overfishing, etc., and efforts for artificial breeding and outdoor bird release have been promoted in Sado City.
As a result, the number of wild birds in Sado City has recovered to 478 as of December last year, and although it has not been established in Honshu, it has been witnessed to fly.
However, it is possible that the number will decrease unexpectedly due to illness, etc., so the Ministry of the Environment has decided to openly solicit candidate sites for releasing birds from all over the country with the aim of establishing crested ibis outside Sado City.
We plan to select about three locations on the condition that there are paddy fields and forests with an area of 15,000 hectares or more, and that there is a track record of inhabiting crested ibis in the past.
In addition, although we will not release birds, we plan to select multiple areas where we will improve the environment for roosting and nesting so that flying toki can live.
The Ministry of the Environment will accept applications until the end of June and announce the results in early August.
At a press conference after the Cabinet meeting on the 10th, Minister of the Environment Yamaguchi said, "We are expecting many applications so that Toki can be seen flying in the sky as before, even in Honshu."
According to the Ministry of the Environment, local governments in Ishikawa Prefecture and Noto region have already announced their intention to apply for the candidate sites for release of birds.