NAGOYA — Japan's push for recognition of the Satoyama Initiative received a big boost Friday as a group of delegates to the U.N. COP10 conference on biodiversity endorsed the idea, clearing the way for formal approval by the entire convention next week.
"The conference of the parties recognizes the Satoyama Initiative as a potentially useful tool to better understand and support human-influenced natural environments for the benefit of biodiversity and human well-being," read a statement issued Friday morning by the chair of a subgroup of delegates working on the sustainable use of biodiversity.
Japan had made inclusion of the Satoyama Initiative in the final agreement a key goal for the conference, and with the draft release Friday it is expected to be formally approved by high-level ministers on Oct. 29, the final day of the conference.
The Satoyama Initiative has now gone international, with many projects based on "satoyama" principles to promote sustainable use of natural resources through traditional land efforts taking place in the Philippines, Cambodia, Malawi, the United States, and many other countries.
"The conference takes note of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative as one mechanism to carry out activities identified by the Satoyama Initiative, and invites parties, other governments and relevant organizations to participate in the partnership," the decision read.