The first meeting of the Noto GIAHS Biodiversity Working Group for the fiscal year 2023 was held on July 19, 2023, in the conference room on the fourth floor of Noto Airport. The Working Group (WG) was established in May 2021 as part of the Noto GIAHS Promotion Council, organized by local municipalities in the Noto region. The WG brings together experts and representatives from nine municipalities to exchange information on agricultural biodiversity in Noto and discuss ways to protect and utilize that biodiversity. The UNU-IAS OUIK supports the preparation and operation of the WG, while the Ishikawa Prefectural Rural and Mountainous Region Promotion Office participates in each meeting as a supporter and collaborator.
This time, the meeting was held in a hybrid format with both in-person and online participation, with a total of 23 participants, including expert members, relevant agencies, and the secretariat from Nanao City’s Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Division. The meeting was chaired by Special Prof. Kiyoharu Yanai from Ishikawa Prefectural University, and reports on the agenda items were presented by Researcher Sayako Koyama from the OUIK.
To begin with, an introduction was provided on the history of the Working Group (WG) for the benefit of new members, including municipal staff who joined this year.
In the first year, the WG focused on model surveys of Satoyama landscapes and the establishment of a monitoring system for living organisms. In the second year, while building on those efforts, the WG selected target species to monitor environmental changes in the Satoyama and Satoumi areas of Noto. They also developed a foundational educational material to introduce these target species, which was distributed and utilized during observation events.
Simultaneously, efforts were made to visualize the data collected from previous organism observation events. Additionally, the establishment of the WG’s website was initiated to enhance communication and information sharing.
For more details on the educational materials, please visit https://sites.google.com/view/noto-biodiversity/教材紹介.
Following this report, participants raised several points of discussion. One major challenge identified was how to build a system to collect ecological data widely with limited personnel. It was emphasized that in order to involve citizens, efforts should be made to help them understand the significance of this work and its connection to agriculture.
Participants also highlighted the need to investigate the relationship between biodiversity and agricultural practices in Noto, as well as the shortage of manpower.
Additionally, it was reported that as part of this year’s initiatives, the WG is examining the organism data collected during observation events in 2022 using an app called “Biome” (details can be found here) to determine if this data can be utilized for future WG monitoring efforts. However, it was noted that the dhttps://biome.co.jp/app-biome/ata provided by Biome comes at a cost, presenting significant challenges for its utilization.
There is also a free app called “iNaturalist,” which has been used in elementary school observation events and was reported upon during the meeting. However, various challenges have been encountered when using this app in schools. Therefore, this year, the WG is considering conducting observation events targeted at adults, who are more likely to continuously use the app and contribute data reports.
On the other hand, a challenge identified was the shortage of experts available to serve as instructors during the living organism observation events in rice paddies. To address this, discussions were held regarding the organization of training sessions to prepare more capable facilitators.
Plans are underway to coordinate “Field Training Workshops” (focusing on organism surveys in rice paddies) and the “GIAHS Training Workshop” (to learn about GIAHS in general) collaboratively with the Noto GIAHS Promotion Council this year. The importance of further advancing collaboration with initiatives aimed at the reintroduction of the crested ibis was also confirmed.
Currently, supplementary educational materials are being developed to enhance the material resources created in the previous year. Updates on the progress of these materials were shared, along with reports from Professor Koji Nakamura (WG advisor) and researcher Koyama, who attended the “7th East Asia Agricultural Heritage Conference” held in June in Zhejiang Province, China (details can be found here).
Tsunao Watanabe, the director of the UNU-IAS OUIK, shared information on movements regarding Japan’s national biodiversity strategy, which has been formulated for the first time in about a decade. This provided a rich opportunity for exchanging valuable information about agricultural biodiversity in the Noto region and the wild restoration of the crested ibis.
This WG is scheduled to hold two more meetings this year.
＊For more details about the Noto GIAHS Biodiversity WG, please visit the following website:
https://sites.google.com/view/noto-biodiversity
