It is an urgent and important subject to conserve the remained natural seashores for recreation such as swimming and so on in the Seto Inland Sea, because natural seashore has been remarkably lost by different developments there. For this reason, Article 12-7 in the Law Concerning Special Measures For Conservation Of The Environment Of The Seto Inland Sea require the prefectures concerned possible to designate seashores and sea zone facing to the seashores which satisfy the following conditions as "Natural Seashore Conservation Areas" by their ordinance:
(1) those parts where sand beaches, reefs or other similar natural conditions are maintained near the water-boundary line.
(2) those parts which are used by the public for sea bathing, gathering sea shells and other similar purposes and which are recognized as being suitable for such use both at present and in the future.
The notification required a person who intends to build a new structure and conduct other actions to assure the conservation of natural seashores and comfortable uses in the Natural Seashore Conservation Areas.
Based on this Article, the ordinance concerned to the Natural Seashore Conservation Areas has been drawn up in 10 prefectures among the prefectures concerned. 91 zones have been designated as the Natural Seashore Conservation Areas until December 31 1997. The location of the designated Natural Seashore Conservation Areas is shown in Figure 7-9.
Figure 7-9 The Location of the Designated Natural Seashore Conservation Areas