Photo/Illutration Mamoru Tsuneda photographs a rare orchid species on Amami-Oshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture in May. (Makoto Hokao)

AMAMI, Kagoshima Prefecture--Nature photographer Mamoru Tsuneda has a love affair with Amami-Oshima island, where he was born and raised.

The island in Kagoshima Prefecture was recently recognized as a World Heritage site, boosted by his efforts. 

“I can find pleasure on this island 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” said Tsuneda, 68. “I do not have time to even sleep here.”

But 30 years ago, Tsuneda was stunned when he heard the opinion of a wild bird expert from abroad: Amami is not worth a second visit.

Tsuneda had guided the researcher around the island.

Though forests on Amami-Oshima abound with rare species, traces of large-scale tree felling could be spotted everywhere due to development and logging around that time. The expert noted that money should not be used for places where nature is not preserved.

The expert brought many bird watchers to Amami-Oshima every year but they did not come again the following year. This made Tsuneda aware that protecting the ecosystem would lead to the island’s affluence.

Every time he hears about development projects ranging from sites that threaten a frog breeding pool to one of the largest mangrove forests in Japan, Tsuneda reaches out to authorities and agents responsible and asks them to drop those plans.

When a golf course development program was proposed during the 1990s, Tsuneda cited the Amami rabbit and other living creatures’ rights to live on Amami-Oshima as a plaintiff of Japan’s first lawsuit connected to the rights of nature.

“The lives of the creatures should not be threatened,” he said in the suit.

Because Amami-Oshima failed to recover quickly from the aftermath of World War II, there was a deep-rooted preference for development. Tsuneda has long been criticized by those who think “nature will never allow someone to earn a living off of it.”

But when Amami-Oshima started gearing up for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage list, Tsuneda began receiving a succession of requests for advice and tours from authorities and residents since he is most knowledgeable about the forests there.

Tsuneda also guided personnel from an international organization deployed to tell UNESCO whether the island should be registered as a World Heritage site, underpinning its inclusion.

Tsuneda has been frequenting the local forests for more than 40 years while immersed in water up to his waist and staying still in a thicket. He shouts “very good” when finding a creature he is looking for, and releases the camera shutter to capture “habu” venomous snakes, which he calls “a long (and longtime) friend.”

Tsuneda is now looking forward to seeing the forests surviving for 1,000 years after being recognized and preserved as a World Heritage site.

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