November 2012: The third Global Conference of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) convened under the theme “Contribution to Achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets,” and consisted of the IPSI Assembly and the Public Forum.

The third ISPI conference took place from 6-7 October 2012, in Hyderabad, India. In addition, a series of IPSI-related events were held from 9-12 October 2012, over the course of the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

According to the report of the meeting, the Assembly heard a report of Steering Committee (SC) activities delivered by its Chair, Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, and welcomed new SC members, including the International Tropical Timer Organization (ITTO), MS Swaminathan Research Foundation Community Agrobiodiversity Research Centre, University of Sarajevo Faculty of Science, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

Representatives of Japan’s Fukui Prefecture made a formal offer to host the Fourth IPSI Global Conference in September 2013.

The Public Forum held three working group sessions on: indicators of resilience in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes; creating synergy between traditional knowledge and modern science; and multi-stakeholder collaboration towards sustainable production and consumption (SCP). Each working group discussion was linked to corresponding Aichi biodiversity targets.

On 9 October, “IPSI Evening” convened under the theme “Achievement and further development of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative.” A keynote address was delivered by Kazuhiko Takeuchi, UN University Vice-Rector, on “IPSI: Perspectives on Sustainable Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes.”

The Satoyama Initiative was launched during CBD COP 10 by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the UNU Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) with the aim to advance socio-ecological production landscapes for the benefit of biodiversity and human well-being. IPSI members include governments, academia, as well as UN, international, civil society, local-level and indigenous organizations, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the CBD Secretariat. [Report from the Third IPSI Global Conference and CBD COP 11] [IPSI Website]