IPSI partner organization Conservation International, Japan organized a side event at the Nineteenth Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD SBSTTA-19) on Thursday, 5 November 2015, titled “GEF-Satoyama Project Forum: Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management in Priority Socio-ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes”. The event featured speakers from Conservation International, the IPSI Secretariat at UNU-IAS, the GEF Secretariat and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).

A newly launched GEF-funded project, the GEF-Satoyama Project, aims to contribute to the mainstreaming of the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The project aims to make contribution to sustainable management of production landscapes and seascapes, so that the society prospers in harmony with nature. Indigenous peoples and traditional knowledge plays particular roles in this attempt. The overview of the project was followed by the introduction of specific components from supporting on-the-ground projects to knowledge generation and capacity building globally. A discussion with participants continued, about the characteristics of landscapes and seascapes in which human livelihood and biodiversity co-exist, and how they can be managed. Funding opportunities that the project provides in three target biodiversity hotspots (Indo-Burma, Tropical Andes, and Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands) were also presented.

The event’s programme was as follows:

13:15- 13:20 Opening (Yasushi Hibi, Conservation International Japan)

13:20-13:40 Overview presentation on the project (Yoji Natori, Conservation International Japan)

13:40-13:55 International efforts in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (William Dunbar, UNU-IAS)

13:55-14:10 GEF’s approach for socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (Yoko Watanabe, GEF Secretariat)

14:10-14:20 Knowledge generation for socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (Yasuo Takahashi, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies)

14:20-14:45 Discussion on the following topics

1. Characteristics of landscapes and seascapes in which human livelihood and biodiversity co-exist

2. Management of SEPLS