On 14 March 2015, the UNU Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will organize the international symposium Mainstreaming Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction: Lessons Learned from 3.11 for the World and the Future as one of the side events at the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction Public Forum. The event will start with opening remarks by Mrs. Akie Abe, Spouse of the Prime Minister of Japan.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and reconstruction is increasingly gaining international attention and its implementation is encouraged in decisions by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Ecosystems such as coral reefs, coastal forests and wetlands can function to reduce disaster risks, which can be leveraged and incorporated into existing disaster-prevention measures. Such ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction is sustainable and cost-effective in the long term. It also contributes to climate change adaptation, the enhancement of local tourism, agriculture, and fishery, as well as biodiversity conservation.
This symposium will showcase Japan’s best practices, such as those in Kesennuma Oshima, based on the lessons learned from Japan’s 11 March 2011 disaster, and refer to other cases outside of Japan. The event will discuss how to mainstream ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and reconstruction measures in Japan and internationally.
Simultaneous English–Japanese interpretation will be provided for this event.
Download the event flyer and IUCN position papers from the Related Files tab.
(12:40 Doors open)
13:00–13:10 Opening Remarks
Akie Abe (Spouse of the Prime Minister of Japan)
13:10–13:50 Keynote Speeches
Kazuhiko Takeuchi (Senior Vice-Rector of UNU)
Inger Andersen (Director General of IUCN)
13:50–14:40 Best Practices in Japan and the World
Jane Madgwick (CEO of Wetlands International)
Shoichi Shirahata (Chairman, Kesennuma-Oshima Tourism Association)
Marlynn M. Mendoza (Chief Ecosystem Management Specialist, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines)
Christopher Briggs (Executive Secretary, Ramsar Convention)
Hiroki Katsuragawa (Director, Forest Planning Division, Forestry Agency of Japan)
14:40–16:00 Panel Discussion “To Promote Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction”
Coordinator: Shiro Wakui (Acting Chair of the Japan Committee for the UN Decade on Biodiversity/Professor of Tokyo City University)
Panelists:
Please click on the REGISTER button above to access the online registration page.
Mainstreaming Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction (1.3 MB PDF)
Healthy Ecosystems Enhance Resilience to Disasters (45.4 KB PDF)
Des Ecosystèmes Sains améliorent la Résilience aux catastrophes (268.7 KB PDF)
Los Ecosistemas Saludables mejoran la Resiliencia ante los Desastres (122.1 KB PDF)
TKP Garden City Sendai Kotodai
Sendai Park Building
3-6-1, Kokubunncho
Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0803
Japan