is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

located in the east of the island of

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

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 north ...

. It was designated as a national park on 31 July 1987. The park is known for its

wetlands 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 ...

ecosystems. Kushiro-shitsugen (Kushiro Wetlands or Kushiro

Swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

, Marshland) covers an area of on the

Kushiro Plain 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- ...

(Kushiro-heiya) and contains the largest tracts of

reedbeds A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

in Japan. The

Kushiro River is a river in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of . The Kushiro originates from Lake Kussharo and flows south across the Kushiro Plain. The river is joined by two tributaries, the Kuchoro River () and the Setsuri Riv ...

(), which originates in

Lake Kussharo is a caldera lake in Akan National Park, eastern Hokkaidō, Japan. As with many geographic names in Hokkaidō, the name derives from the Ainu language. It is the largest caldera lake in Japan in terms of surface area, and sixth largest lake in ...

, meanders through much of the park. During the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

of 1980, in which Japan participated, the park was first registered as a peatland with raised

bogs A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main Wetland#Types, types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, ...

. In 1967, the

(''shitsugen'') themselves had been designated as a national natural monument. For that reason, access is strictly limited and the landscape, most typical of Hokkaido, has been preserved. Senmo Line Lake Touro

Wildlife

The vegetation of the park consists of reeds, sedges,

peat moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...

, black alder thickets. The rivers which bend freely back and forth, groups of lakes and marshes, and other wet ecosystems comprise a varied environment. Kushiro-shitsugen is home to over 600 species of plants. The park is a valuable haven for wild species such as the

red-crowned crane The red-crowned crane (''Grus japonensis''), also called the Manchurian crane or Japanese crane (; the Chinese character '丹' means 'red', '頂/顶' means 'crown' and '鶴/鹤' means 'crane'), is a large East Asian crane among the rarest cran ...

(''Grus japonensis''), huchen (''Hucho perryi''), Siberian salamander (''Salamandrella keyserlingii'') and

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

(''Leucorrhinia intermedia ijimai'').

Geography

Related cities, towns, and villages

* Kushiro Subprefecture ** Kushiro, Hokkaidō **

Kushiro, Hokkaidō (town) is a town located in Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of April 30, 2017, it has an estimated population of 19,941, and an area of 252.57 km2. History * 1920: Kushiro Village split from old Kushiro Town (now Kushiro City ...

Shibecha, Hokkaidō is a town located in Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are ...

** Tsurui, Hokkaidō

References

External links

J-IBISRamsar
{{authority control National parks of Japan Parks and gardens in Hokkaido Protected areas established in 1987 Ramsar sites in Japan

Wildlife

Geography

Related cities, towns, and villages

See also

References

External links