Environment Ministry to maintain ban on goshawk trade after bird exits endangered list

JAN 27, 2016

The Environment Ministry will maintain a ban on capturing and trading the goshawk even after it removes the bird from a list of rare endangered species, sources said.

The goshawk was put on the list under the nation’s conservation law, which entered into force in 1993, after its population across Japan dropped to as low as 300 in 1984 as housing development encroached on nesting sites.

The ministry has been considering removing the bird from the list since 2013, after the population recovered to 5,818 in 2008 in the Kanto region and nearby areas following conservation efforts.

In October 2014, subcommittee members of the Central Environment Council, which advises the environment minister, agreed to remove the goshawk from the rare species list under the conservation law.

In the ministry’s latest Red List of threatened species, the goshawk has been removed from the category for species at high risk of extinction.

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