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The Venue

The Fourth Global Conference of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI-4) took place in Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture from September 12th to 14th. Satoyama is a Japanese term for a mosaic of different ecosystem types such as secondary forest and agricultural land.Satoyama-like ecosystem exists around the world. A general IPSI assembly and a public forum were held under the theme "Implementing ISPI strategies towards realizing biodiversity conservation and a human lifestyle of prosperity".

The general assembly was attended by approximately 120 members, and Senior Vice-Minister of the Environment Tanaka and Fukui Governor Nishikawa headed the opening speeches. A 5-year "IPSI Action Plan" to was agreed upon.

Approximately 140 members attended the public forum, where Director-General Hoshino of the Nature Conservation Bureau welcomed the attendees.

Also, Fukui Prefecture officially appointed the week from September 8th to 14th as "SATOYAMA International Conference 2013 in Fukui", and organized various events associated with Satoyama. At the general IPSI meeting, participants enjoyed a visit to the Satoyama of Fukui Prefecture for the first time, and a vibrant discussion discussing topics such as Fukui Prefecture's efforts was carried out. All in all, the week proved to be a success with positive reviews from both Japanese and visiting participants.

Mr. Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP and Dr. Yatsu, Vice-Minister of the Environment

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established in 1972 as an organization to put into effect the Declaration on the Human Environment and the Action Plan for Human Environment which were adopted in the same year's Stockholm Conference on Human Environment, and carries out general coordination regarding environmental conservation within the UN system.

Japan has actively supported the UNEP's activities. For example, UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) which operates in Osaka is mainly supported by the government of Japan. Japan also became a member of the bureau of the UNEP Governing Council in February 2013.

On October 8th, the first UNEP policy dialogue was held in Tokyo to discuss further strengthening of collaboration between Japan and the UNEP. Mr. Steiner, Executive Director, and other delegates attended from UNEP, and Mr. Ryutaro Yatsu, Vice-Minister of the Environment, and other officials attended from Japan.

During the policy dialogue, discussions were held over collaboration and cooperation in new action fields such as improving and strengthening IETC activities, along with its relationship with "Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)". They also discussed strengthening "Global Adaptation Network (GAN)" which promotes adaptation to climate change, based on the successful activities of "Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN)". It was also agreed that the actions of UNEP Regional Office for Asia Pacific would also be strengthened to tackle air pollution issues in Asia.