is a
national park
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...
in the
Ogasawara Islands
The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic read ...
, located approximately one thousand kilometres to the south of
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. The park was established in 1972 within the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
of
Ogasawara, itself part of
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
.
In 2011, the Ogasawara Islands were inscribed upon the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
.
Islands
The
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...
is also known as the Bonin Islands, a corruption of , meaning 'uninhabited'.
The islands were returned to Japanese administration in 1968 after
US Occupation.
[ The ]Chichijima
, native_name_link =
, image_caption = Map of Chichijima, Anijima and Otoutojima
, image_size =
, pushpin_map = Japan complete
, pushpin_label = Chichijima
, pushpin_label_position =
, pushpin_map_alt =
, ...
, Hahajima
, native_name_link =
, image_caption = Map of the Hahajima Rettō (Imōtojima is mislabeled as Tori-shima)
, image_size =
, pushpin_map = Japan complete
, pushpin_label = Hahajima
, pushpin_label_position =
, pushp ...
, and Mukojima clusters are included within the park, but of the three Volcano Islands
The or are a group of three Japanese-governed islands in Micronesia. They lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and belong to the municipality of Ogasawara, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop ...
, Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high.
...
and Minami Iwo Jima are not.
Flora and fauna
According to the IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
evaluation for UNESCO, 441 taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
of native plant
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is eq ...
s have been recorded, of which 161 of vascular plant
Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...
s and 88 of woody plants are endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
; the only native mammal is the critically endangered Bonin flying fox
The Bonin flying fox, Bonin fruit bat (''Pteropus pselaphon''), or in Japanese is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is endemic to four islands (Chichijima, Hahajima, North Iwo Jima, and South Iwo Jima) in Ogasawara Isla ...
; of the 195 recorded species of birds, fourteen are on the IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...
; of the two terrestrial reptiles, the Ogasawara snake-eyed skink (''Cryptoblepharus nigropunctatus'') is endemic; of 1,380 insect species, 379 are endemic; of 134 species of lands snails, 100 are endemic. 40 species of freshwater fish, 23 of cetacea
Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel th ...
ns, 795 of saltwater fish, and 226 of hermatypic coral
Hermatypic corals are those corals in the order Scleractinia which build reefs by depositing hard calcareous material for their skeletons, forming the stony framework of the reef. Corals that do not contribute to coral reef development are refer ...
have been recorded.Cyathea medullaris
''Sphaeropteris medullaris'', synonym ''Cyathea medullaris'', commonly known as mamaku or black tree fern, is a large tree fern up to 20 m tall. It is distributed across the south-west Pacific from Fiji to Pitcairn Island. Its other Māori name ...
'' in Ogasawara National Park
File:Cyathea spinulosa (Hego).jpg, '' Cyathea spinulosa'' in Ogasawara National Park
File:Leucaena leucocephala in Bonin Islands.jpg, '' Leucaena leucocephala''
File:P. luchuensis(Okinawa pine).jpg, '' Pinus luchuensis''
See also
* National Parks of Japan
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
* World Heritage Sites in Japan
Japan accepted the UNESCO World Heritage Convention on 30 June 1992. As of July 2021, twenty-five properties have been inscribed on the World Heritage List: twenty cultural sites and five natural sites. A further five sites and one site extensio ...
References
External links
Ogasawara National Park
*
Ogasawara National Park
Map of Ogasawara National Park (Chichi and Haha Islands)
Map of Ogasawara National Park (Other islands)
{{authority control
National parks of Japan
Natural history of the Bonin Islands
Parks and gardens in Tokyo
Protected areas established in 1972
1972 establishments in Japan