The Environment Ministry of Japan announced its plans to designate the Yanbaru region of Okinawa as a national park, aiming to meet UNESCO criteria for inclusion on the World Heritage list. To prepare for recommendation of the area and some islands in the vicinity as a World Natural Heritage site, the ministry wants to strengthen measures to protect the area through designating it as a national park.

The government is seeking registration of the Yanbaru area in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island and Amami islands in the neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture as a World Heritage site in 2018, as reported by Japan Today.

The area for national park designation covers 13,600 hectares of land and 3,700 hectares of sea. It provides habitats for species native to Yanbaru and has unique geological features and subtropical vegetation.

The government will consider expanding the park area once a nearby 7,800-hectare piece of land held by the U.S. military and used for training is returned to Japan, a ministry official said.