sustainable use of biological diversity.pdf - India Environment Portal

Introduction
Introduction
The urge for survival has led humans to explore
their surrounding natural environment for usable
resources and cultivation. This in turn has led humans
to master the various uses of available natural
resources, as well as to find the best ways of
extracting them. On the other hand, humans have
also learned about the negative impacts their activities
can have on the natural environment, including
natural resource depletion, decreased production
and soil erosion, and that a balanced way of utilizing
and managing land and natural resources is vital to
ensure that the land continuously provides necessary
natural resources. Over time, humans have gradually
developed unique systems based on harmonious
interactions with their natural environment. These
sustainable systems have enhanced land management
practices and made natural resource use more
effective. These socio-cultural systems and associated
traditional ecological knowledge are forces that
have, over centuries, shaped and formed unique
landscapes adapted to various geographical and
socio-cultural backgrounds around the world. Such
sustainable human-influenced landscapes, which
have been known to be beneficial for biodiversity
conservation and human well-being, are referred to
here as socio-ecological production landscapes.
To conserve biodiversity, considerable efforts have
been focused on preserving pristine environments,
such as wilderness, where human activities are
minimal. However, biodiversity conservation also
involves human-influenced areas, such as socio-ecological
production landscapes, which can contain
rich sustainable practices and traditional knowledge.
These landscapes are found throughout the world
under various local names, such as dehesa in Spain,
muyong in the Philippines and chitemene in Malawi.
In Japan, such landscapes are termed satoyama, a
combination of two words which denote mountains,
woodlands and grasslands (yama) and surrounding
villages (sato).
However, these landscapes are increasingly threatened
in many parts of the world due to various pressures
such as unplanned urbanization, industrialization
and diminishing rural population. To tackle
the critical issue, the Ministry of the Environment
of Japan (MOE-J) and the United Nations University
Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) jointly
initiated the Satoyama Initiative to promote activities
based on fundamental principles and guidelines
(such as the Ecosystem Approach) towards the long
term goal of “realizing societies in harmony with nature.”
This Initiative covers a wide range of humaninfluenced
areas, such as villages, farmlands, and adjacent
woodlands and grasslands, which have been
formed and maintained sustainably and which have
the potential to contribute to both biodiversity conservation
and human well-being.
This document is a collection of case studies and
articles that address how relationships between humans
and nature function in socio-ecological production
landscapes around the world. The examples
highlight the various physical structures, management
techniques and governance systems that characterize
these landscapes, as well as the benefits they
provide for biodiversity and human well-being, the
threats they currently face, and ways to address these
threats. Case studies were submitted to the Secretariat
of Convention of Biological Diversity (SCBD)
and field studies were conducted for the UNU-IAS.
Case studies were submitted to the SCBD by experts
as voluntary contributions to a call made by SCBD
in collaboration with MOE-J and UNU-IAS, as part
of the in-depth review on the sustainable use of biodiversity
in preparation for the fourteenth meeting
of the CBD Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical
and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-14) and the
tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
CBD (COP-10).
The first part of this document presents a selection
of synthesis articles of relevance to socio-ecological
production landscapes worldwide. An approach to
addressing biodiversity conservation through the
inclusion of human communities, and indicators to
measure socio-ecological resilience, are presented.
Based on four case studies from Suriname, Cameroon,
Guyana, and Thailand, the characteristics of
customary sustainable use of biodiversity by indigenous
peoples, and the threats customary management
systems are currently facing, are highlighted.
Protected landscapes across North America, and the
diverse governance regimes associated with these
landscapes, are then explored. Finally, the opportunities
and challenges in surveying the coverage and
remains of cultural landscapes in Europe are presented.
The second part of the document presents 23 case
studies of socio-ecological production landscapes
around the world. These case studies cover 18 countries:
Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia,
Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico,
Peru, Portugal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands,
Tanzania, and United States of America (figure 1).
The case studies are representative of various climates,
including tropical, sub-tropical, Mediterranean,
and temperate climates, and geomorphic
environments, including plains, hills, coasts and
mountainous areas, or a mixture of these. In addi-
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