Aichi Prefecture will be flexible in revising its proposal for razing a forest in Seto for the World Expo 2005, although it has not yet committed to shelving the controversial housing plan, Gov. Masaaki Kanda said during a meeting with environmental group heads in Tokyo on Friday.

During the discussions, which lasted nearly one hour, the governor informed the leaders of the groups that controversial aspects of the project are under review and that the prefecture will be flexible and sees no need to get bogged down in the initial plan.

The heads of the Nature Conservation Society of Japan, the Wild Bird Society of Japan and World Wide Fund for Nature Japan reiterated their Aug. 31 request that the prefecture drop a plan to go ahead with a a housing development following the event in Kaisho Forest.

They are also requesting that the prefecture agree to display the forest as it is and preserve it as a park.

"We had a very honest talk and shared our views on the expo. It was educational," said Kanda, adding that the discussions did not get into specifics.

The governor also welcomed advice from the environmentalist groups on measures that could be implemented to make the expo a success.

Asked about dropping the controversial housing plan and preserving the area as a park, Kanda said he was working to gain a consensus among the prefecture, its people and municipalities.

"We are right now in the middle of reviewing the issues," he said. "We haven't come to any conclusions yet."

Leaders of the three environmental groups said they welcome an exposition that will showcase low-lying urban mountain areas like Kaisho Forest, which played an important part in traditional Japanese society.

"I interpret the governor's comments as that he is basically rethinking the plan," said Sukio Iwatare, the WBSJ's vice chairman.

It was the first meeting between the governor and the three groups' leaders.

The gathering came after the environment groups jointly called on the prefecture to make the plan compatible with the theme of the expo, "Beyond Development: Rediscovering Nature's Wisdom."

It also comes in the wake of a visit from officials of the International Bureau of Exhibition, which is based in Paris, who echoed the sentiments of local environmental groups that have slammed the project for its environmental impact on a tract of forest that is home to endangered birds and plants.

The visit forced the prefecture to delay registering the expo with the BIE from May to the end of this year.

"Dialogue with the people of the prefecture is very important. I am sure that with thorough and concentrated debate the expo can be made a success," said Teruyuki Ouchi, chairman of WWF Japan.

Collectively, the environmentalists said they were grateful for the invitation to meet with the governor and both sides said meetings in the future are a possibility.

The governor's commitment to being "flexible" boosted the groups' hopes that the prefecture will soon abandon the controversial elements of the plan.

"Our hope is that (the prefecture) will preserve the environment and use it in a new way, producing a new kind of expo," said WBSJ chairman Nagahisa Kuroda.

Airport eco-plan urged

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Environmental protection measures should be a condition for the construction of a new airport on Ishigaki Island, a subgroup of an advisory panel set up to select the airport site said in a draft proposal released Friday.

Saturday, the advisory panel chose a hilly area around Mount Karadake, in the eastern part of the island, as the site for the controversial new airport, which has been stalled for 24 years by environmental concerns and a land transaction scandal.

Ishigaki Island is part of the Yaeyama Islands group and lies southwest of Okinawa Island.

The draft is expected to be approved at the panel's conference on March 26. The proposal will be submitted early next month to Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine.

The draft proposes the new airport should be built as far as possible from the shore to protect the natural environment there, including a famous stretch of coral reef.

It also said the prefectural government should set up committees to discuss environmental protection or construction methods to prevent soil drainage into the sea while the construction work is going on, and to conduct an appropriate environmental assessment.

Environmentalists say soil drainage into the sea would harm the coral reefs off the island.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Japan has asked the prefectural government to implement 10 environmental protection measures concerning the construction plan, including a rigorous environmental assessment.