On 20 June 2026 Tokyo Shimbun, a leading newspaper in Japan, published a column by Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi (Director, UNU-IAS) discussing the importance of satoyama landscapes for biodiversity. The column, Progress on the SDGs — Insights from the UN, features one Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) every month and is written by directors of UN agencies and offices in Japan. The June issue introduces goal 15 (life on land). In the column Prof. Yamaguchi highlights the importance of sustained human stewardship in maintaining satoyama ecosystems and their biological diversity.
The article is available in print and on the Tokyo Shimbun website (paywalled), in Japanese.
