Ogasawara-mura Mayor Kazuo Morishita said he received news of the World Heritage recommendation at home and then came to the village office Saturday morning. "I couldn't sleep well until I was informed of it. I'm proud that the rich natural environment, which is an asset of Ogasawra, has been recognized at the world level," the mayor said.
According to the Environment Ministry, the Ogasawara Islands were highly evaluated as the number of indigenous species is high despite the area being small. However, the risk of invasive foreign species being introduced may increase if the number of tourists rises following the heritage registration.
Takaya Yasui, the director of a nonprofit organization studying wild species on the islands, said, "Measures should be taken to make sure an increase in the number of tourists won't have a harmful impact on indigenous species."
The village office has projected that the number of visitors to the islands would increase by more than 5,000 from the current 21,000 per year.
Mayumi Hanazato, head of the Ogasawaramura Tourist Association's secretariat, said, "We don't want this to be a mere transient boom but would rather take the opportunity to make the islands flourish sustainably as an ecotourism destination."
