Societies living in harmony with nature: this was the central concept demonstrated to representatives from the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as they visited Shizuoka Prefecture nearby Tokyo, Japan in April 2025. The field trip happened on the sidelines of a seminar about the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative Programme (COMDEKS), which is implemented by the SGP. It was an opportunity for SGP National Coordinators from Cameroon, Türkiye and Costa Rica, SGP COMDEKS Coordinators from New York and Japan, and technical experts from the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) to share experiences and learn about Japan’s conservation and biodiversity management practices in productive landscapes.

Caption: Local wasabi farmer Mr. Nishijima displays a wasabi plant featuring its highly flavoured roots. He exports his wasabi plants and products to customers globally.

The first stop was at a traditional wasabi production site in Utôgi, an area designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS), where wasabi cultivation originated over 400 years ago. The wasabi plant is well-known for the unique flavour of its roots, which makes it an indispensable ingredient in Japanese cuisine.

A local farmer explained that traditional wasabi cultivation is concentrated in hilly areas because it relies on clean, free-flowing water that springs from the surrounding mountains. It requires little chemical inputs and forms not only a beautiful landscape of terraces planted amid lush green hills, but an entire ecosystem rich in biodiversity, as it creates ideal feeding and breeding grounds for many aquatic species, which in turn attract birds and small animals. Over the years the value and demand for traditional wasabi has increased which is benefitting local farmers, who in turn continue to work towards safeguarding their cultural practices and productive landscapes in rural Japan.

Caption: Beautiful green tea landscape.

Participants also visited the Japanese green tea fields in Kakegawa City, which is also a GIAHS site and one of Japan’s major production regions where the 150-year-old traditional Chagusaba method for tea cultivation is still practiced. This method sets aside some land around the tea fields to grow ‘wild’ with grasses, which provide habitats for other plants and animals and are later cut to create compost and natural fertilizers. Together the farmers, Kakegawa’s local government and stakeholders have established their own certification system to award different tea grades, depending on the size of wild land set aside for organically nurturing the tea fields.

Caption: Staff of the Shizuoka Prefectural Government explain the Chagusaba green tea cultivation method to the COMDEKS team among vibrant green tea fields.

The COMDEKS team also learned that different processing methods can result in a range of green tea flavours and values. Like the wasabi cultivation area, the tea cultivation landscape also offers highly scenic views, attracting many tourists and adding to the cultural, recreational, and economic value of the area.

Caption: Green tea tasting.

Finally, the last stop of the field visit was the Asahata Green Park, located in the heart of the Asahata flood control plain. The 200 hectare flood plain is prone to frequent flooding by the Tomoe River which runs through Shizuoka Prefecture. The Park is certified by the Ministry of Environment Japan as a Nationally Certified Sustainably Managed Natural Site, a certification system introduced by the Ministry as part of its efforts to achieve the target of conserving at least 30 percent of land and sea areas by 2030, under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Caption: Walking through the scenic Asahata Green Park.

The Asahata Green Park was created as a community space where partnerships between public, private and civil society organizations are creating a combined system of biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, disaster prevention and mitigation, environmental education and community welfare. It becomes inaccessible during floods but reopens after the water recedes and the area is cleaned. This is a locally-led initiative that demonstrates how to live in harmony with natural weather cycles and processes, while also benefitting the people in the area.

Caption: Group photo with Mr. Kinoshita, Director of Asahata Green Park.

In all the sites visited, SGP Coordinators were impressed by local people’s passion and wisdom, as well as the efforts made by local partners to conserve, add value to and promote these beautiful and productive landscapes where nature, cultural heritage and wellbeing are all respected. “This visit allowed me to better understand the benefits of sustainably managing agricultural land as well as promoting local traditions, which cannot be achieved without the dedication of local communities,” said Aimé Kamga, SGP National Coordinator in Cameroon.

COMDEKS’s core conservation philosophy is the active engagement of local communities and stakeholders towards promoting productive and socioeconomic benefits within natural ecosystems and landscapes. “It was a great opportunity to understand how this approach is applied across the globe, like in Japan and in my country, highlighted Gökmen Argun, SGP National Coordinator in Türkiye. “Understanding the value of nature and land, the interconnection with local communities, and the value of local products was well illustrated at the Satoyama sites, it really shows that protecting nature and sustainable production can take place hand in hand.”

Caption: SGP National Coordiantors at the site where wasabi production originated.

For Ariana Araujo Resenterra, SGP National Coordinator in Costa Rica the trip was also an invaluable opportunity to understand how wasabi and tea are produced in Japan in close harmony with nature. “These production processes offer key lessons for our countries. We were able to witness firsthand that it is possible to produce while respecting and protecting natural ecosystems, preserving ancestral knowledge, and using modern practices to strengthen local communities’ financial and environmental resilience.” It reaffirmed that the work she does under COMDEKS in Costa Rica is deeply connected to what is happening in other parts of the world: “This shows that it is indeed possible to support local initiatives with global impact.”

Societies in harmony with nature
Launched in 2011 as a flagship programme of the Satoyama Initiative, COMDEKS is a global effort to promote the sustainable use of natural resources in landscapes and seascapes with local communities whose livelihoods and cultural heritage depend on them. It provides small-scale finance through SGP directly to local communities, Indigenous Peoples and civil society to implement locally-led projects that improve livelihoods and well-being, conserve biodiversity, address climate change, build resilience and support local cultures and traditional practices. Launched in 2022, COMDEKS Phase 4 under implementation in 15 countries across the globe, with funding from the Ministry of the Environment Japan and the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund.

Caption: Group photo at GIAHS tea site with local tea farmers and producers.

All photo credits: S. Ali