Environment
JWTC has 17,500 acres (71 km2) of single and double canopy jungle over very rugged terrain. Being part of the Nansei islands subtropical evergreen forests, most of the area surrounding JWTC is designated as a national forest by the Government of Japan. JWTC is home to 24 endangered species including the Okinawa Rail, Amami Woodcock, Pryers Woodpecker and the Ryukyu Robin. Also residing at JWTC are three species of pit viper poisonous snakes, the Okinawa habu, Himehabu, and the Sakishima Habu. JWTC supports ongoing and extensive efforts by the local Government of Japan's mongoose capturing project.
Following the 2006 disclosure that the United States military had made widespread use of the defoliant Agent Orange in the jungle training center during the 1960s, local citizens have called for an investigation into the current use of chemical and biological weapons within the camp. The region supplies the densely-populated south of the island with drinking water and the impact on the islanders' long term health is of grave concern.
Read more about this topic: Camp Gonsalves
Famous quotes containing the word environment:
“Modern man’s capacity for destruction is quixotic evidence of humanity’s capacity for reconstruction. The powerful technological agents we have unleashed against the environment include many of the agents we require for its reconstruction.”
—George F. Will (b. 1941)
“The poorest children in a community now find the beneficent kindergarten open to them from the age of two-and-a-half to six years. Too young heretofore to be eligible to any public school, they have acquired in their babyhood the vicious tendencies of their own depraved neighborhoods; and to their environment at that tender age had been due the loss of decency and self-respect that no after example of education has been able to restore to them.”
—Virginia Thrall Smith (1836–1903)
“A positive learning climate in a school for young children is a composite of many things. It is an attitude that respects children. It is a place where children receive guidance and encouragement from the responsible adults around them. It is an environment where children can experiment and try out new ideas without fear of failure. It is an atmosphere that builds children’s self-confidence so they dare to take risks. It is an environment that nurtures a love of learning.”
—Carol B. Hillman (20th century)