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.