Taiwan has been selected to join the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative’s (IPSI) Steering Committee in recognition of its long-term commitment to promoting global conservation, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said yesterday.
The IPSI Global Conference was held in Riobamba, Ecuador, from March 2 to March 5.
During the conference last month, National Dong Hwa University was officially elected as a member of the steering committee, making Taiwan an official part of a core decisionmaking body of global conservation initiatives, the agency said.
Photo courtesy of the agency
IPSI is one of the most important international platforms dedicated to realizing the vision of ensuring that humanity lives in harmony with nature by 2050 based on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Taiwan’s participation in the global decisionmaking body is significant, as it enables the nation not only to share its conservation experience and achievements with the world, but also to inform conservation efforts initiated by global organizations at higher levels, including the UN, said Lin Chi-che (林其徹), a section head at the agency who had joined the meeting.
The IPSI is run by the Tokyo-based Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability of the United Nations University and funded by the UN, he said.
Taiwan’s conservation experience could also be incorporated via the IPSI into the guidance on other effective area-based conservation measures (OECM), which is developed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), he added.
The IUCN is one of the most influential global eco-conservation bodies and the only environmental organization admitted as a permanent observer to the UN General Assembly.
Lin said the university has long been collaborating with the agency on promoting Satoyama initiatives in Taiwan and speaking at the IPSI on behalf of the agency.
The IPSI would announce its actionable implementation plan by the end of this month, which is expected to focus on helping communities understand conservation knowledge and establishing relevant legal systems, he said, adding that Taiwan is leading the way in this regard.
Both the top-down policy of the Taiwan Ecological Network and the bottom-up efforts of community-based forestry programs and Satoyama initiatives are quite mature and complete examples internationally, he said.
“Taiwan and Japan were frequently represented at the conference by government officials and other countries were impressed by the Taiwanese government’s active engagement,” Lin said.
Taiwan is one of the few countries with tangible achievements in promoting OECM, the agency said.
The OECM certification program officially launched last year was presented at this year’s conference and served as a key international reference, it said.
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