The Environment Ministry announced Tuesday that Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima Prefecture has been newly designated as an internationally important wetland under the Ramsar Convention.
This marks the 54th wetland in the country registered under the international treaty, officially known as the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, and the second in the prefecture following Oze, which was registered in 2005.
Lake Inawashiro is roughly in the center of the prefecture, straddling the cities of Aizuwakamatsu and Koriyama and the town of Inawashiro.
The designated area covers 10,960 hectares and is highly valued for attracting many tundra swans to overwinter.
A registration certificate is planned to be presented to representatives of the two cities and the town at the Conference of the Contracting Parties of the Ramsar Convention in Zimbabwe, starting on July 23.
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