On 17 July 2024, UNU-IAS co-organized a side event of the 2024 UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) to spotlight the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative (COMDEKS), a programme that supports community-led initiatives for the sustainable use of biodiversity and natural resources.
COMDEKS is a flagship programme of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) that provides small-scale project financing to communities for biodiversity conservation efforts and the sustainable management of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS). It contributes to efforts aimed at achieving targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at a local level.
Marcos Neto (Assistant Administrator and Director, UNDP) opened the session by emphasizing the urgent need to address nature loss, degradation and climate change amidst widening global inequality, conflict insecurity and a health crisis. He stressed that nature is our most powerful asset to tackle these complex challenges.
Kentaro Asahi (Parliamentary Vice-Minister, Ministry of the Environment of Japan) noted that the past achievements of COMDEKS contributed to the development of the GBF, reiterating the commitment of the Japanese government to fund the programme’s fourth phase, which will be implemented in 15 countries. Keiji Nishizawa (President, Keidanren Nature Conservation Council (KNCC)) added that KNCC would contribute JPY 300 million over five years to realize nature-positive societies.
Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi (Director, UNU-IAS) introduced the recently published Indicators of Resilience in Socio-ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes as a practical tool for communities to better understand resilience — the capacity to navigate social, economic and environmental pressures to safeguard their environmental and economic conditions — and encourage practices that strengthen it.
Kazuhiko Takeuchi (President, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)) presented IPSI’s work in SEPLS, areas where sustainable production activities maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services while enhancing local livelihoods.
Local practitioners from Cameroon, Peru and Türkiye shared their experiences with COMDEKS projects, underscoring the crucial role of grassroots initiatives in achieving sustainable development while empowering women as key agents of change in their communities.
The side event was co-organized by KCNC, MOEJ, the GEF Small Grants Programme implemented by UNDP, the Secretariat of Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and IGES. A full summary of the event is available on the website of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
About COMDEKS
Since 2011, COMDEKS has been contributing toward the realization of societies in harmony with nature, as defined by the vision of the Satoyama Initiative. Active in 20 countries around the world, the programme has been providing small grants to local organizations to help maintain and rebuild socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS), areas where people have a symbiotic relationship with ecosystems. More information is available on the COMDEKS website.
