Letter-Writing Page

Save the Dugong!

The Japanese dugong (similar to a manatee) is a gentle sea mammal. It is believed dugong sightings in the distance gave rise to the ancient myth of the mermaid. Today, the Japanese subspecies of dugong is highly endangered: Only 30-50 animals remain in the wild, living off the shores of Japan's Okinawa island.
The dugong is revered as a symbol of peace by the Japanese people -- but ironically, it is threatened with extinction by plans to build a huge new U.S. military airbase offshore, destroying the seagrass bed that is the dugong's primary feeding ground, and the coral reef that is its habitat.
Send this message to nearly 50 U.S. and Japanese military, environmental, and policy officials to save the dugong!
More Info: Save the Dugong Campaign Center

To date: This letter, 124,166 sent; all ProgressivePortal letters, 3,051,617 sent

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      The Japanese dugong is endangered. It is estimated that fewer than fifty of these rare sea mammals remain in Japanese waters. 
      The ocean off Okinawa is the northern edge of the dugong's habitat. However, a U.S.-Japanese floating airport is planned in that region. Already, seabed boring surveys preparatory to construction have begun, and residents have organized nonviolent resistance actions, on the beach and in the ocean in response. 
      The Japanese dugong crisis was addressed, and a proposal favoring protection for the Japanese dugong was endorsed, during the third congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in November 2004. 
      I ask you to reply and work toward implementation of the recommendations of the IUCN and other international conservation organizations and the cancellation of the planned offshore American military airstrip in the dugongs' ocean habitat. 

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