Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

In Japan, forests cover approximately 250,000 km 2 of land which accounts 67 per cent of the national land [ ] 131 Activities of the Japan Committee for the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity To encourage various parties to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and to encourage them to cooperate with each other, the Japan Commit- tee for the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (UNDB-J) selects and recognizes best practices and then promotes the selected projects through PR activities. More spe- cifically, UNDB-J comprehensively assesses, selects and recognizes best practices from various projects con- ducted by different parties working towards the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, that are regis- tered by the Nijyu-maru Project. As of March 2018, 133 projects have been recognized by UNDB-J as best practices. One of the projects is Tohoku Green Renaissance from the Sea and the Rice Field. With the aim of achieving Green Renaissance in areas affected by the great East Japan earthquake by taking biodiversity restoration into account, various parties including citizens, Tohoku University and NPOs are conduct- ing activities in cooperation with each other, such as the restoration of rice fields and participatory ecosys- tem monitoring. The project was highly valued because it supported affected farmers by selling branded rice which was grown in a biodiver- sity-conscious way, in addition to contributing to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in disas- ter-affected areas. UNDB-J also actively promotes the recognized projects by posting them on the UNDB-J website and certifi- cating them at the National Meetings on Biodiversity as well as at regional seminars organized by UNDB-J. There is also recognition that local governments should play an impor- tant role in the conservation of bio- diversity and the sustainable use of its components. For example, at COP 10, the Plan of Action on Subnation- al Governments, Cities and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity was approved. The plan expects local governments to take initiatives for biodiversity conservation, such as the formulation of Regional Biodiversity Strategies. In Japan, the Local Government Network on Biodiversity was es- tablished in October 2011, through which cooperation between local governments has progressed. With regard to Regional Biodiversity Strategies stipulated in the Basic Act on Biodiversity, 43 out of 47 prefec- tural governments had formulated strategies by March 2018, and 46 prefectures have either formulated, or are in the process of formulating, or are considering the formulation. Japan in Autumn Japan J apan has many endemic species and a rich biota (estimated at about 90,000 known species) within a small area of national land. Japanese biodiversity is characterized by a high percentage of endemic species: about 40 per cent of land mammals and vascular plants, about 60 per cent of reptiles and about 80 per cent of amphibians are endemic to Japan. The country has rich natural environments that provide habitats for wild monkeys (Japan is the only developed country which has a wild monkey population) and many other medium and large wild animals including bears and the sika deer (Cervus nippon). Kaz Empson on flickr