Japanese Biodiversity

October 25, 2008 | Staff Essay

by: Shoko Sugasawa

Ministry of the Environment has announced opening information providing website
about biodiversity and holding skull session for COP10.
These announcements are preparations for COP10 and MOP5 in 2010 in Aichi,Japan.
The countdown to COP10 is shown on the top page of the website.
http://www.biodic.go.jp/biodiversity/ (Japanese)

Japan has fostered a wealth of biodiversity in its various natural environment
formed by Japanese unique lifestyles.

For example, do you know the word "satoyama"?
It means an agricultural area located between human settlements
and hilly areas, where the ecosystem has been managed and maintained
by the local community. The methods used are in harmony with nature
and support biodiversity.

A typical satoyama is mainly composed of planted coppice forests
around villages, together with rice fields, other agricultural plots,
water reservoirs, and grasslands, etc.
Many coppice forests were poorly managed in Japan for the half-century
after the country's main energy source shifted from firewood to petroleum,
thus leading to biodiversity loss.
In recent years, not only in satoyama, but in many places in Japan,
the significance of biodiversity has come to be recognized.

In Eco-Products Exhibition, there is the biodiversity area.
In that area, they will introduce the activities of preserving biodiversity
by the private sector.Ex1.Establishing suitable environment for living things
on the streets or rooftops of buildings in urban area.
Ex2.Supporting preservation of unused agricultural land
or nature in city fringes.

Visiting this corner would be a chance to learn Japanese biodiversity
and think about biodiversity in your country or the entire globe.