From May 26 to July 8, 2014, seven government administrative officials from Costa Rica, Mexico, Malaysia and Uganda came to Japan to learn about the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in wetland ecosystems.
This training program was organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, and was hosted by the Kushiro International Wetland Centre. This was the third such event.
Traveling from Tokyo to Okinawa, Fujiyoshida, Miyagi and Hokkaido, the trainees learned about a variety of wetlands, including marshes, tidal flats, coral reefs, rivers and rice paddies. Specifically, they found out about activities conducted to conserve wetlands in these areas, initiatives to use them for industry and education, and other efforts. They had opportunities to talk directly with people engaging in conservation activities, local residents and government officials at Ramsar sites in local destinations including Manko (Okinawa), Kabukuri-numa and the surrounding rice paddies (Miyagi), Kushiro-shitsugen, Akkeshi-ko and Bekambeushi-shitsugen, and Kiritappu-shitsugen (Hokkaido). Through these interactions, the trainees learned about the background of decisions to implement conservation efforts as well as examples of community revitalization leveraging wetland characteristics (e.g., branding of agricultural and fishery products, related utilization for tourism, and environmental education). The training program included a field tour to the site of the Kushiro Wetland Nature Restoration Project with commentary provided by Hokkaido Shibecha High School students, joint exploration of Kiritappu-shitsugen with students from Hamanaka Town’s Chanai Elementary School, and a workshop at the Manko Waterbird and Wetland Center with officials from the Ministry of the Environment, the City of Naha and the City of Tomigusuku. In this way, the program of lectures, practical training and discussion was implemented in collaboration with a variety of parties involved in wetland management.
Based on these experiences, the trainees drafted plans for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in wetland ecosystems for later implementation in their own countries and presented their plans at the end of the program.