Amami-Ōshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island

is a serial UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of five component parts on four Japanese islands in the Ryukyu Arc (Nansei Islands). The site was selected in terms of biodiversity (World Heritage criterion x) for having a diverse ecosystem of plant and animal species that are unique to the region.

History First selected as a candidate site in 2003, the original nomination was added to the Tentative List in 2016; after initial IUCN evaluation, in 2018 the nomination was withdrawn for revision, prior to resubmission the following year; after further evaluation, in 2021 IUCN recommended inscription in July of the revised nomination. UNESCO voted to list it as a World Heritage Site in 2021.

Naming dispute

In the long history of the campaign for registration, this candidate site was renamed at least twice. When a panel of natural scientists formally added it to Japan's tentative list of nomination, it was given the name of Ryūkyū Shotō. This followed a convention of natural sciences but is inconsistent with the official definition provided by the Japanese government, which excludes the Amami Islands from the Ryūkyū Shotō. Moreover, the Amami Islands and Kagoshima Prefecture as a whole voiced a strong opposition to having the label Ryūkyū imposed on themselves. As a result, the candidate site was renamed to Amami–Ryukyu. In late 2015, UNESCO's committee recommended Japan "from a technical perspective" to use an accurate designation of the areas under nomination. In response, the candidate site was renamed again to the current, highly descriptive name in 2016.

Components The serial World Heritage Site comprises five component parts on four islands: ID Component Archipelago Prefecture Image Central point Area(ha) Buffer zone(ha) 1574-001 Amami-Ōshima Island Amami Islands Kagoshima 11,640 14,663 1574-002 Tokunoshima Island (a) Amami Islands Kagoshima 1,724 1,813 1574-003 Tokunoshima Island (b) Amami Islands Kagoshima 791 999 1574-004 Northern part of Okinawa Island Okinawa Islands Okinawa 7,721 3,398 1574-005 Iriomote Island Yaeyama Islands Okinawa 20,822 3,594

Biodiversity Within the total area of are found some 1,819 vascular plants, 21 terrestrial mammals, 394 birds, 21 amphibians, 36 terrestrial reptiles, and 267 inland fish, including endemics such as the Amami rabbit, Okinawa rail, and Iriomote cat. Of the above, 189 species of vascular plant are endemic (c.10% of the total number of species found), as are 13 terrestrial mammals (62%), 5 birds, 18 amphibians (86%), 23 reptiles (64%), and 14 inland fish. Of the 6,153 insect species found, 1,607 are endemic.

Endemic taxa Endemic taxa include the following, with EDGE species marked with an asterisk (though an EDGE species, Iriomote's Kampira Falls frog is not listed below, since it is found also in Taiwan):

Amami-Ōshima Tokunoshima Okinawa Iriomote Mammals *Amami rabbit*Ryukyu spiny rat*Ryukyu long-tailed giant ratRyukyu shrewRyukyu tube-nosed batYanbaru whiskered bat*Ryukyu bent-winged bat *Amami rabbit*Tokunoshima spiny rat*Ryukyu long-tailed giant ratRyukyu shrewRyukyu tube-nosed batYanbaru whiskered bat*Ryukyu bent-winged bat *Muennink's spiny rat*Ryukyu long-tailed giant ratRyukyu tube-nosed batYanbaru whiskered batOrii's fruit bat*Ryukyu bent-winged bat Iriomote cat*Ryukyu bent-winged batYaeyama fruit bat Birds *Amami woodcockAmami thrush*Lidth's jayLuscinia komadori komadoriDendrocopos leucotos owstoni *Amami woodcockLuscinia komadori namiyei *Okinawa railOkinawa woodpeckerLuscinia komadori namiyei Iriomote titSpilornis cheela perplexus Amphibians *Anderson's crocodile newtSword-tail newtAmami tip-nosed frog*Otton frogOdorrana splendida *Anderson's crocodile newtAmami tip-nosed frog *Anderson's crocodile newtSword-tail newt*Ishikawa's frogRyukyu tip-nosed frogHolst's frog*Namie's frog Greater tip-nosed frogUtsunomiya's tip-nosed frog Reptiles *Barbour's blue-tailed skinkProtobothrops flavoviridisSinomicrurus japonicus japonicus *Banded ground gecko*Barbour's blue-tailed skinkProtobothrops flavoviridisSinomicrurus japonicus boettgeri *Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle*Kuroiwa's ground gecko*Barbour's blue-tailed skinkProtobothrops flavoviridisSinomicrurus japonicus boettgeri Yaeyama pond turtleBoettger's ground skink*Kishinoue's giant skink*Sakishima grass lizardYaeyama yellow-margined box turtleElaphe taeniura schmackeri Inland fish Parioglossus caeruleolineatusStiphodon imperiorientisAcanthogobius insularisLuciogobius ryukyuensis Stiphodon imperiorientisLuciogobius ryukyuensis Eviota ocelliferStiphodon imperiorientisParkraemeria saltator Crustaceans Amamiku amamensisGeothelphusa obtusipesGeothelphusa sakamotoana Amamiku amamensisGeothelphusa obtusipesGeothelphusa sakamotoana Caridina okinawaCandidiopotamon okinawenseGeothelphusa grandiovataGeothelphusa tenuimanusGeothelphusa aramotoi Neocaridina brevirostrisMacrobrachium shokitaiCaridina macrodentataGeothelphusa fulvaGeothelphusa minei Insects Asiagomphus amamiensis amamiensisNeolucanus progenetivus progenetivus Matrona basilaris japonicaNeolucanus progenetivus progenetivus Neolucanus okinawanusRhipidolestes shozoi Asiagomphus yayeyamensisRhinocypha uenoiNeolucanus insulicola insulicola Plants Asarum fudsinoiViola amamianaCardiandra amamiohsimensis Asarum hatsushimaePolypodium amamianum Pieris japonica var. koidzumi Satakentia liukiuensisOchlodes asahinaiDeutzia yaeyamensisViola tashiroi

In addition to the above, Okinawan avian subspecies found in Yanbaru (the northern part of Okinawa) include those of the Ashy minivet, Brown-eared bulbul, brown boobook, Collared scops owl, Japanese bush warbler, Japanese paradise flycatcher, Japanese pygmy woodpecker, Japanese tit, Japanese white-eye, Large-billed crow, Narcissus flycatcher, Oriental turtle dove, Ruddy-breasted crake, Ruddy kingfisher, and Varied tit; similarly, but found in the Yaeyama Islands (which include Iriomote), are endemic subspecies of the Brown-eared bulbul, Emerald dove, Japanese pygmy woodpecker, Japanese tit, and Japanese wood pigeon.

Protection Areas of the Site and species living within are protected by a raft of complementary measures, including designation as National Parks (Amami Guntō National Park, Yanbaru National Park, Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park), Forest Biosphere Reserves (Amami Guntō Forest Biosphere Reserve, Yanbaru Forest Biosphere Reserve, Iriomote Forest Biosphere Reserve), Wildlife Protection Areas (Yuwan-dake Wildlife Protection Area, Yanbaru (Ada) Wildlife Protection Area, Yanbaru (Aha) Wildlife Protection Area, Iriomote Wildlife Protection Area, plus twenty-four Prefectural Wildlife Protection Areas), and Natural Monuments (thirty National, and a further twenty-two Prefectural Monuments).

See also List of World Heritage Sites in Japan List of National Parks in Japan Protected Forests (Japan) Wildlife Protection Areas in Japan List of Natural Monuments of Japan (Okinawa) List of Natural Monuments of Japan (Kagoshima) Japanese Red List

References

External links Nomination of Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, the northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island (Ministry of the Environment) Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, the northern part of Okinawa Island and Iriomote Island (UNESCO Tentative List entry)