Coastal Area 14405 Adjacent waters of Southern Tanegashima Island

Basic Information References

Reason(s) for selection Criteria

Characteristics References

These are the waters to the south of Tanegashima Island. These are important waters in which the coral of Kumanoura includes numerous rare species (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). In the area around the mouth of the Oura River unfold river-mouth tidal mud flats, where mangrove forests have developed and Kandelia obovata grows. This is a rare site where mangroves are distributed and geographically rare as a mangrove forest as well (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). The Nagahama coast at the southern tip of Tanegashima Island (from Honmura to Takezaki) consists of sandy shares with massive sand dunes, and it includes biota typical of sandy beach ecosystems (communities of seaside plants, seaside insects, and creatures that live on sandy beaches. The sandy beaches are home to numerous Carex kobomugi, wedelia, sea bells, Lathyrus japonicus, Callicarpa japonica, and its landscape free from artificial structures is worth noting. Very large numbers of shells are deposited on the sandy beaches, including many Cyclosunetta concinna, Dosinia juvenilis, and others. This coast can be considered to be home to the sand dunes best preserved in their natural state in all of Japan (Kato, personal communication). Also prolific here are Meretrix lamarckii, and there is a diverse range of shellfish. In addition, these waters also are important as the waters in front of an important loggerhead turtle spawning ground (Kamezaki, 2007).