The Satoyama Initiative, proposed by the Government of Japan and the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) and endorsed at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP10) in 2010 in Aichi, Japan, is a global effort to promote landscape and seascape approaches for biodiversity and human well-being. The Initiative focuses its efforts on “socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes” (SEPLS), which are dynamic mosaics of habitats and land/sea use that provide the goods and services needed for human life while being managed to maintain biodiversity. Under the Initiative, the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) was also established to promote the work of the Initiative and knowledge sharing. As of May 2023, 304 members have joined, including national and local government agencies, academic institutions, NGOs, indigenous or local community organisations, private sector organisations and international organisations. As part of IPSI’s activities, a financing mechanism known as the Satoyama Development Mechanism (SDM) was launched in 2013 to facilitate the implementation of activities by IPSI members around the world.

In this session, we will focus on how SEPLS can promote integrated, inclusive and localised actions towards sustainable societies, especially societies that are “nature positive” from the perspective of biodiversity conservation and restoration. The session will start by introducing the SEPLS concept, followed by the presentations on the lessons learned from projects supported by SDM fund recipients. The session then will explore, with a panel of these speakers, the potential contribution of SEPLS to the transformation of society to one that is nature positive.

https://isap.iges.or.jp/2023/en/at3.html