The Ministry of Environment announced its “Red List of Marine Species” in March 2017, identifying 56 marine species on its list of endangered species. While only 56 species were recognized as endangered species, this was not due to the low number of species for which there is concern, but because there remain too many uncertainties for many of the species to be included. In future, it will be necessary to proceed with efforts for the conservation of coastal ecosystems, especially focusing on tidal flats where many of the endangered species were found, and also promote research studies on the threats of extinction that each of the species face.

Changes in the ocean are becoming glaringly apparent in the Arctic region and the Pacific islands, areas to which I travel to conduct research and carry out environmental education activities. While the two regions are far apart geographically, they share similar issues as they face changes in their ocean environments. These changes in the ocean environment are also big problems for Japan, which has also been contributing to the root cause of this problem. Various efforts must be made for even small improvements to this situation.

The departments of maritime technology at Five “Kosen” schools, or colleges of technology, and four organizations in the maritime field worked together over the course of 10 years to reform maritime education and training. With the initial aim of reviving and changing the educational capabilities of maritime educational organizations that had been losing direction following the long recession, these efforts not only led to the improvement of educational capabilities at the schools but also spurred the creation of a network between industry and academia for human resource development in the maritime field, paving the way for a new educational system to train maritime technology specialists for the future of maritime shipping.