Three nongovernmental organizations on Tuesday lodged a protest with the farm ministry over a controversial land reclamation project in Isahaya Bay, Nagasaki Prefecture.
Work on the project resumed Jan. 9 amid protests by local seaweed fishermen.
The NGOs, including World Wide Fund for Nature Japan, urged the farm minister, Tsutomu Takebe, to help restore the natural environment of Isahaya Bay and the Ariake Sea as soon as possible.
The NGOs disagree with the ministry's claim that the work was resumed as part of disaster-prevention efforts. "The work is nothing but drainage measures for agricultural land to be reclaimed and has nothing to do with disaster prevention," the group said in a statement.
It added that local residents and nature conservation groups across the nation were shocked by the resumption of the project.
Isahaya Bay is part of the Ariake Sea, an almost landlocked mass of water encircled by Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Saga and Fukuoka prefectures.
The project was approved decades ago by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
In December, the ministry agreed with the Nagasaki Prefectural Government -- a key proponent of the project -- to halve its area to 700 hectares.