70 / 208
[
] 70
E
nvironment
:
air
,
water
,
oceans
,
climate
change
has expanded cooperation in conservation of the natural
environment all over the world, aiming at balancing the
resolution of global issues with the growth of develop-
ing countries.
The Bornean Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Conservation Programme has been implemented in
Malaysia since 2002. This region, which contains
the world’s greatest biodiversity, is popular among
tourists, who are fascinated by its apparently vast
tropical rainforests. However, the reality is that
wildlife species are disappearing and the forest area
is rapidly declining. Therefore, JICA is promoting
the conservation of the natural environment by the
whole community, as has been practised in various
regions of Japan, involving all stakeholders that
enjoy benefits from Bornean forests, including the
provincial government, developers and local commu-
nities. Activities include a survey, which was set up
to collect data on ecosystems, and instruction of
field researchers by the JICA expert on monitoring
methodology, as well as a workshop held with local
inhabitants on park management.
Ecotourism, including homestay, is another oppor-
tunity for environmental education in which people
experience living closely associated with nature in this
area. It also plays a significant role in improving the
livelihoods of local people, who in the past might have
sold their own land to a plantation company when
requiring cash. Following such a sale, their traditional
life was in many cases no longer feasible, because of
new problems such as wastewater from the plantation
because of such factors as the excessive utilization of natural
resources due to deforestation, overgrazing and the harvesting of
firewood and charcoal materials, as well as overhunting of wildlife,
introduction of alien species and the threat of climate change, it
is considered that as many as 40,000 wildlife species, including
unknown species that remain undiscovered, are becoming extinct
every year, and the functions of the ecosystem are deteriorating all
over the world. With the aim of establishing a sustainable society
in which human activities coexist in harmony with the natural
environment, JICA has provided various forms of support such as
providing technical cooperation for improving the capabilities of
administrative officers and researchers, raising awareness through
environmental education for local residents, introducing eco-tour-
ism, and developing and disseminating agricultural technologies
that can help strike a balance between improved productivity and
environmental conservation. In particular, JICA carries out activi-
ties for the conservation of biodiversity hotspots such as mangrove
forests and coral reefs in regions that are rich in biodiversity.
In October 2010, the tenth meeting of the Conference of the
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) was
held in Nagoya, Japan. In keeping with the adoption at COP10 of
the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), or the
fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization
of genetic resources, JICA has supported the efforts of develop-
ing countries in protecting their biodiversity-related resources and
also in connection with ABS, which plays an important role in the
promotion of sustainable utilization.
Malaysia: Forest conservation together with communities
As set forth in the MDGs, securing environmental sustainability is a
common global agenda to protect the present and future Earth. JICA
JICA’s role in nature conservation facilitates harmony between maintenance of the natural environment and human activities
Image: JICA