is a 3,168ha.

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

area in Hamanaka-cho, Akkeshi District, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is also called because numerous flowers can be seen in summer. Kiritappu wetland is the third largest wetland in Japan, following the Kushiro Shitsugen National Park and Sarobetsu field. The peatland in the center of Kiritappu wetland (803ha) was nominated as a natural treasure of Japan in 1922. In 1993, it was registered as one of the

Ramsar sites A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) ** Marshes on inorganic soils: *** Permanent (herb dominated) (Tp) *** P ...

. The local people founded a national trust in 2000, Kiritappu Shitsugen Trust N.P.O., and are making efforts to protect and preserve the wetland.

Location

Kiritappu Wetland is on the northeast side of Japan, on the east side of Hokkaidō, facing the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

between

Kushiro is a city in Kushiro Subprefecture on the island of Hokkaido, Japan. It serves as the subprefecture's capital and it is the most populated city in the eastern part of the island. Geography Mountains * Mount Oakan * Mount Meakan * Mount Akan ...

and

Nemuro Nemuro may refer to: * Nemuro Subprefecture, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan ** Nemuro, Hokkaido, a city ** Nemuro Peninsula ** Nemuro Strait ** Nemuro Bay * Nemuro Province was an old province in Japan in what is today Nemuro Subprefecture, Hokkai ...

. It is 9 km long and 3 km wide. On the north hill lies , a visitors' center run by Kiritappu Shitsugen Trust N.P.O. On the height of the west part of the wetland there is an observation deck. Hokkaidō road no. 808 runs there which is also called "MG Road" (Marshy Grassland Road).

Flora

It is called "Wetland of flowers" because there are relatively more flowers compared to other wetlands. These flowers include: * ''

Lysichiton ''Lysichiton'' is a genus in the family Araceae. These plants are known commonly as skunk cabbage or less often as swamp lantern. The spelling ''Lysichitum'' is also found. The genus has two species, one found in north-east Asia (Japan and Russia ...

camtschatcense'' ミズバショウ、white (June) * ''

Fritillaria camschatcensis ''Fritillaria camschatcensis'' is a species of flowering plant native to northeastern Asia and northwestern North America, including northern Oregon, Washington (state), Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, northern Japan, and the Russian Far Ea ...

'' クロユリ、deep purple(June) * '' Eriophorum vaginatum'' ワタスゲ、white cotton (June, July) * ''

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

setosa'' ヒメオウギアヤメ、blue-purple (July) * '' Hemerocallis middendorffii'' エゾカンゾウ、yellow(July) * ''

Iris ensata ''Iris ensata'', the Japanese iris or Japanese water iris ( Japanese: ''hanashōbu''), formerly ''I. kaempferi'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to Japan, China, Korea and Russia, and widely cultivated as an orna ...

'' var. ''spontanea'' ノハナショウブ、red-purple (July) * ''

Gentiana triflora ''Gentiana triflora'' (三花龙胆 san hua long dan in Chinese, called clustered gentian in English) is a tall, flowering perennial plant in the genus ''Gentiana'' native to higher-elevation (600–1000 m) meadows and forests of China (Hebei, He ...

'' var. ''japonica'' エゾリンドウ blue (September)

References

External links

Kiritappu Shitsugen Trust N.P.O.

Kiritappu Wetland Center
a visitors' center run by Kiritappu Shitsugen Trust N.P.O. {{coord, 43, 05, 01, N, 145, 04, 50, E, region:JP-01_source:kolossus-jawiki, display=title Natural monuments of Japan Ramsar sites in Japan Landforms of Hokkaido Hamanaka, Hokkaido