The U.S. military announced Friday that it will soon give back one-sixth of the land it occupies in Okinawa, marking the largest return of land since 1972 from its military base on the Japanese island.

American forces will return 4,000 hectares of land to Japan once the construction of new helipads has been completed, Reuters reports.

The move comes amid widespread protests against the U.S. presence on Okinawa, after an American civilian working on the base was arrested over the murder of a local woman. Protesters blocked further construction on the helipads, with work only resuming a week ago and sparking fresh demonstrations.

Although the land-return deal was agreed upon in 1996, the local agitations have prevented it from being carried out.

“We are respectful of the feelings of Okinawans that our footprint must be reduced,” Lieutenant General Lawrence D. Nicholson, the commander of U.S. troops on the island, said in a statement on Friday.

Read next: The Tense Relationship Between Japan and the U.S. Military

Nicholson had declared a 30-day mourning period after the murder and briefly instituted an alcohol ban on U.S. troops following the subsequent arrest of a sailor for drunk driving.

The U.S. currently houses 30,000 military personnel in Okinawa, one of the country’s main Asian hubs aimed at countering a rising China, and currently occupies about 20% of the island.

[Reuters]

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com.