World Wide Fund for Nature Japan (WWF Japan) has submitted their recommendations for protecting the rare kissing loach fish species that resides in a water channel system close to the recently opened Kyoto Stadium, currently known as Sanga Stadium by Kyocera for sponsorship reasons, to Kyoto Prefecture, City of Kameoka, and Ministry of the Environment.
According to the Kyoto Shimbun newspaper, the international non-governmental organisation urged the authorities to set up a conservation committee that consists of specialists in the field of environmental policies as well as the designated operator of the new stadium.
WWF Japan also requested the national and municipal authorities to develop a detailed action plan for the protection and recovery of the kissing loach population and the City of Kameoka to ensure that the word “Ayumodoki” (Japanese term for the kissing loach) to be included in the new Kyoto-Kameoka Hozugawa Park which will be developed specifically for the protection of the critically endangered species to clarify the purpose behind the new development.
The newspaper also reported that the organisation is seriously concerned that the conservation budget may be reduced now that the work on the stadium is nearing its completion and therefore requested the authorities to consider allocating a part of the fees stadium users pay for the conservation of the fish and to ensure that a new scheme is developed to ensure adequate budget is secured for the future conservation work.
The Kyoto Stadium has a capacity of 21,600 and is widely regarded as Japan’s best purpose-built football stadia to date. It opened in February 2020 with a pre-season friendly between the second division (J2) Kyoto Sanga FC who will use and operate the venue as its permanent home and the top-flight J1’s Cerezo Osaka but no official league or cup match has taken place yet because of the J-League’s postponement amid the threat of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
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Article provided by The Stadium Hub
