The woods of Hakuba Village, the originally planned site of the biathlon and cross-country ski events, are known to be habitats of the goshawk and the buzzard. These two rare members of the same species of bird are protected by international agreement. Because of the birds' presence, the biathlon was transferred to neighboring Nozawa Onsen Village, and the four cross-country ski courses planned in Hakuba were scaled down to three. Furthermore, the level of new construction work was kept to a minimum by using already existing facilities for all the alpine skiing events as well as free-style skiing and biathlon events.

Construction at venues and surrounding areas is taking place only when it will least disturb the local animals, and efforts are being made to keep noise down in areas that are home to wildlife. Even in this busy year, goshawks and buzzards were seen in their nests. Now the emphasis is on finding ways of avoiding disturbances to wild animals--such as event noise, spectator shouting and announcements, and lighting--as much as possible during the Games themselves.