Strategy and Plan of Action 2023 -2030 of theInternational Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative

Background:
The Satoyama Initiative is a global initiative that aims to realize societies in harmony with nature throughthe conservation and sustainable management of socio‐ecological production landscapes and seascapes(SEPLS). The initiative promotes the sustainable use of biodiversity so that societies can enjoy a stablesupply of various natural assets and ecosystem services well into the future.
SEPLS are dynamic mosaics of habitats and other land and sea use where harmonious interactions between
people and nature maintain biodiversity while providing humans with goods and services needed for theirlivelihoods, survival, and well-being in a sustainable manner. SEPLS are found in many places in the world
under different names and are deeply linked to local culture and knowledge. When well-managed, SEPLS
can significantly contribute to the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) andthe Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
While SEPLS provide a wide range of provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services, they cancontribute to combating desertification by conserving land from degradation and to climate change
mitigation and adaptation, among other things, by conserving and enhancing carbon sinks and reservoirs,
and increasing resilience to adapt to adverse effects of climate change at the land and seascape levels.
SEPLS also root the identities of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
The Satoyama Initiative was developed to support or re-instate harmony between societies and nature bypromoting sustainable socio-economic activities such as sustainable agriculture, fisheries, and forestry thatare in line with natural ecological processes. To facilitate and accelerate the implementation of activities
under the Satoyama Initiative, the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) was launchedin 2010 during the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Partnership is open to all organizations engaged with SEPLS. As of June 2023, IPSI comprised 304
members committed to supporting SEPLS for the benefit of biodiversity and human well-being through theimplementation of their individual and collaborative activities. IPSI members include national and local
governmental organizations; government-affiliated organizations; non-governmental and civil society
organizations; Indigenous Peoples and Local Community organizations; academic, educational and/or
research institutes; industry and private sector organizations; and United Nations and otherintergovernmental organizations. Not all the stakeholders working on SEPLS are IPSI members, but IPSIis open to collaborating with all interested stakeholders and sharing knowledge and experiences with othernetworks.
The large and growing number of IPSI members, their diversity, and the wide range of activities they carryout in diverse geographical, ecological, edaphic, historical, climatic, cultural, and socio-economic
conditions, including the conservation of biodiversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels are key
assets for the Partnership. However, there is a need to further promote coordination, cooperation, coevolution, and synergy and, thus, maximize results and impacts based on effective and efficient resource
use in implementing activities under the Satoyama Initiative.
The purpose of the present strategy is to enhance complementarity and synergies among the activities of
IPSI members, on the one hand, and guide IPSI members and other partners, on the other hand, to contributeto implementing activities related to the Satoyama Initiative at the local, national, regional, and international
levels.

VisionThe vision of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative is to realize societies in harmony
with nature. In such societies, human communities practice, develop, and maintain socio-economic
activities aligned with natural processes, bearing in mind, among other things, the impacts of loss of
biodiversity, desertification, climate change, and disease transmission. By managing and using biologicalresources sustainably and thus maintaining and nurturing biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, humans
will experience productive landscapes and seascapes that provide a stable supply of ecosystem services
and goods well into the future.

Mission:
The strategic mission of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative is to:a. Promote and support the concept of SEPLS and actions towards their revitalization andsustainable management building on the knowledge and culture of Indigenous Peoples andLocal Communities, within the partnership and with non-member networks and/ororganizations working with socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS)
b. Enhance the contribution of SEPLS to achieve the objectives of the Rio Conventions and theimplementation of other relevant international agreements, including, among others, the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,and the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; andc. Promote the concrete benefits of SEPLS to the environment and society, including biodiversity
conservation, restoration and sustainable use, climate change mitigation and adaptation,
disaster risk reduction, livelihood support, relevance to health, sustainable food systems, andhuman well-being.

Strategic objectives
The present Strategy and Plan of Action 2023-2030 identifies five strategic objectives as described below.
•

•

•

•
•

Knowledge Co-Production, Management, and Uptake: Conduct research and knowledge
management related to landscape and seascape approaches to address direct and underlying
causes responsible for the loss of biological and cultural diversity as well as ecological and socioeconomic services from SEPLS.
Institutional Frameworks and Capacity Development: Strengthen institutional frameworks
and develop capacity to integrate landscape and seascape approaches into policies and crosssectoral strategies related to biodiversity, climate change, sustainable land and sea management,
health, agri-food systems, and disaster risk reduction to maintain or enhance the benefits of
SEPLS to the environment and society.
Area-Based Conservation Measures: Promote effective conservation and management throughprotected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), recognizing
indigenous and traditional territories where applicable, and facilitate their integration into thewider landscape and seascape to contribute to the relevant targets of the Kunming-Montreal
Global Biodiversity Framework.
Ecosystem Restoration: Promote the restoration of SEPLS and contribute to the goals of theUnited Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and relevant targets of the Kunming-Montreal
Global Biodiversity Framework.
Sustainable Value Chain Development: Promote sustainable practices, market-based
mechanisms, and value chains to support sustainable production, including customary sustainable
use and economies that rely on traditional knowledge and cultural values and practices, fromSEPLS to contribute to the achievement of relevant targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global
Biodiversity Framework.

The following principles apply to all of the strategic objectives.
i.
ii.
iii.

Strengthen networking and cooperation among members at local, regional, and global scales;
Promote full, effective, and equitable participation of Indigenous Peoples and Local
Communities, irrespective of race, ethnic group, religion, and gender, while supporting women,
youth, and people in vulnerable and marginalized situations; andComport fully with the principles of Section C of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity
Framework.

Implementation:
The IPSI Secretariat will work with the Steering Committee and IPSI members, as soon as possible, todevelop an actionable implementation plan for achieving the strategic objectives and priority actions below.
This plan will include resource mobilization activities and, if possible, a conceptual diagram illustrating therelationships between the objectives and actions, as well as improvements to the functioning of IPSI, suchas the IPSI Collaborative Activities mechanism, membership procedures, partner engagement, and events,
as soon as possible.

1. Knowledge Co-Production, Management, and Uptake
Strategic objective: Conduct research and knowledge management related to landscape and seascapeapproaches to address direct and underlying causes responsible for the loss of biological and cultural
diversity, as well as ecological and socio-economic services from SEPLS.
Outcome: By 2030, IPSI has produced a number of knowledge products and collaboratively developed arelevant research portfolio and tools to enhance benefits to nature and people.
Priority Actions:
1. Collect, publish, and share knowledge on the conservation, sustainable use, and restoration of
SEPLS through the IPSI online portal of case studies, among others.
2. Support IPSI members, in particular those working with Indigenous Peoples and Local
Communities, to produce case studies and relevant knowledge materials to enhance knowledgeof community-led and traditional systems of SEPLS management.
3. Encourage synergies between modern science and traditional knowledge systems on thebenefits of landscape and seascape approaches for conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity including through tools such as geospatial data, scenarios, and modelling.
4. Develop and promote IPSI collaborative activities that contribute to integrated research andcapacity development action on the conservation and restoration of SEPLS, including
recommendations to enable socio-ecological resilience.
5. Implement outreach activities to transfer knowledge and build further recognition and visibilityof the Satoyama Initiative, IPSI, and SEPLS concept taking advantage of social media
channels, international meetings, and other relevant events.
6. Review and synthesize information from case studies submitted by IPSI members, including
through the publication of the Satoyama Initiative Thematic Review (SITR), promotion offurther cooperation between IPSI and IPBES, and facilitation of the transfer and uptake of thisknowledge by relevant science and policy processes 1 , capacity building, and education
initiatives.
7. Support efforts to explore the concept of “biocultural diversity” and its relevance to SEPLS.

Relevant processes can include: the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the United Nations
Decade on Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

12. Institutional Frameworks and Capacity Development
Strategic objective: Strengthen institutional frameworks and develop capacity to integrate landscape andseascape approaches into policies and cross-sectoral strategies related to biodiversity, climate change,sustainable land and sea management, energy, water, health, agri-food systems, and disaster risk
reduction to maintain or enhance the benefits of SEPLS to the environment and society.
Outcome: By 2030, guidance and tools are developed to strengthen institutional frameworks andcapacities to integrate the concept of landscape and seascape approaches into policies at regional, national,
and sub-national levels, cross-sectoral strategies and actions.

Priority Actions:
1. Foster the integration of landscape and seascape approaches into relevant policies of theConvention on Biological Diversity and other Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs),
including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and theUnited Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), to ensure synergies andcoherence in their implementation.
2. Develop guidance and tools to integrate landscape and seascape approaches into policies
related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, including the NBSAPs,
LBSAPs, and cross-sectoral strategies, and strengthen the implementation capacities ofnational and sub-national actors.
3. Mainstream landscape and seascape approaches into plans and strategies on COVID-19
recovery, health, and disaster risk reduction.
4. Invite decision makers to provide information on the multiple benefits of SEPLS management,
including its importance in achieving the SDGs and the Kunming-Montreal Global
Biodiversity Framework, and in efforts to mainstream biodiversity into other production
sectors.
5. Develop the capacity of broad stakeholders, especially policymakers, to support theimplementation of landscape and seascape approaches at the ground level and shareexperiences through workshops and events.

3. Area-Based Conservation Measures
Strategic Objective: Promote effective conservation and management through protected areas (PAs) andother effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), recognizing indigenous and traditional
territories where applicable, and facilitate their integration into the wider landscape and seascape tocontribute to the relevant targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 2.
Outcome: The total areas of PAs and OECMs engaged by IPSI members and effectively managed has
increased, recognizing indigenous and traditional territories.
Priority Actions:
1. Generate knowledge on SEPLS’s contribution to biodiversity conservation and restoration inprotected areas and OECMs.
2. Promote recognition of qualified SEPLS as PAs and OECMs through increased awareness of
their benefits, including among decision-makers, through communications, education, andpublic awareness activities.
3. Enhance institutional cooperation between IPSI, governments, and private and civil society
organizations, from local to international levels.
4. Promote peer learning and capacity development activities to consider the relationships
between OECMs and SEPLS and the potential for production landscapes and seascapes to berecognized as OECMs.
5. Document and share lessons and best practices on the management of SEPLS, including
watershed, integrated coastal, and ridge to reef management.
6. Promote the use of the Indicators of Resilience in SEPLS and other related tools to ensure theeffective management of PAs and OECMs.
7. Identify the particular challenges related to area-based conservation in volumetric seascapes,
taking into account their unique features, and develop appropriate support mechanisms with afocus on the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The relevant targets include: Target 1 (All areas are planned or managed to bring loss of areas of high biodiversity
importance close to zero); Target 3 (30% of areas are effectively conserved); Target 4 (Threatened species arerecovering, genetic diversity is being maintained and human-wildlife conflict is being managed); Target 7 (Pollution
reduced, halving nutrient loss and pesticide risk); Target 8 (Minimize impacts of climate change and ocean
acidification including through nature-based solutions and/or ecosystem-based approaches); Target 9(Management of wild species is sustainable and benefits people); Target 10 (Areas under agriculture, aquaculture,
fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably) ; and Target 11 (Nature’s contributions to people are restored,
maintained and enhanced).
2

4. Ecosystem Restoration
Strategic Objective: Promote the restoration of SEPLS and contribute to the goals of the United Nations
Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and relevant targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity
Framework 3.
Outcome: By 2030, research on the restoration of SEPLS has been conducted, and a significant amountof degraded ecosystems have been restored and/ or are under restoration through sustainable SEPLS
management.
Priority Actions:
1. Catalyse action across different stakeholders, from local to international, for the restoration of
SEPLS and ecosystem services.
2. Promote collaborative research activities of IPSI members to fill gaps in science, technology,
and traditional ecological knowledge on the restoration of SEPLS, particularly the benefits ofintegrating traditional knowledge and modern science.
3. Promote peer-to-peer learning, capacity development, and outreach activities on themes related
to the restoration of SEPLS, contributing to Task Forces of the UN Decade on Ecosystem
Restoration.
4. Support the collaborative publication of case studies, policy briefs and research papers focusedon the restoration of SEPLS.
5. Support on-the-ground actions towards the restoration of degraded SEPLS, which will in turnlead to sustainable and enhanced productivity.
6. Undertake communication, education, and public awareness programs on the factual andpotential contribution of the SEPLS concept to enhance restoration at IPSI and other related
events and meetings.

5. Sustainable Value Chain Development
Strategic Objective: Promote sustainable practices, market-based mechanisms, and value chains to
support sustainable production, including customary sustainable use and economies that rely on
The relevant targets include: Target 1 (All areas are planned or managed to bring loss of areas of high biodiversity
importance close to zero); Target 2 (30% of degraded areas are under effective restoration); Target 4 (Threatened
species are recovering, genetic diversity is being maintained and human-wildlife conflict is being managed); Target
7 (Pollution reduced, halving nutrient loss and pesticide risk); Target 8 (Minimize impacts of climate change andocean acidification including through nature-based solutions and/or ecosystem-based approaches); Target 9(Management of wild species is sustainable and benefits people); Target 10 (Areas under agriculture, aquaculture,
fisheries and forestry are managed sustainably); and Target 11 (Nature’s contributions to people are restored,
maintained and enhanced).
3

traditional knowledge, and cultural values and practices, from SEPLS to contribute to the achievement ofrelevant targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 4.
Outcome: By 2030, sustainable market linkages for SEPLS products have been established/enhanced,
sustainable traditional practices reinforced, and information on the benefits of certification, sustainableproduction and consumption, circular economy, and sustainable value chains have been made available
to IPSI members.
Priority Actions:
1. Collect evidence across sectors about the impact of economic and policy incentives and enablea favorable policy environment for a circular economy, sustainable value chains, and ruralurban linkages to support products from SEPLS.
2. Identify the challenges of the current market economy system faced by IPSI members.
3. Document best practices and success stories and promote replication of economic, market, andfinancial mechanisms that increase the resilience of SEPLS.
4. Work to improve consumer awareness about sustainable production and consumption,
including the role and value of SEPLS.
5. Enhance cooperation across government, business, and financial sectors, and relevant
regional/international organizations to develop and enhance biodiversity-oriented value chains,
including affordable green certification and branding.

The relevant targets include: Target 15 (Businesses assess and disclose biodiversity dependencies, impacts andrisks, and reduce negative impacts) and Target 16 (Sustainable consumption choices are enabled, and food waste
reduced by half).
4

Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluation
IPSI will develop and implement a system for monitoring progress in the implementation of the strategic
objectives and priority actions and assess their overall policy impact. Two main mechanisms will be used
to report progress: annual reports of IPSI activities and program implementation reports.
Annual reports will track activities from the previous fiscal year and present major achievements related tothe strategic objectives, including, among others, updates on the partnership, major events, collaborative
activities, knowledge products, and Steering Committee decisions.
A mid-term implementation report covering from 2023 to 2026 will be developed to provide a systematicand impartial assessment of the IPSI program and strategy to determine its relevance, efficiency,
effectiveness, impact, and sustainability to support the vision of societies in harmony with nature. The
report will seek to strengthen the IPSI program, share learning lessons and identify gaps. Based on theoutcomes and recommendations of the mid-term report, the IPSI Steering Committee will have theopportunity to update and make the necessary adjustments to its Strategy and Plan of Action, as needed.
The mid-term report could provide relevant information to related IPBES reports, Global Biodiversity
Outlooks, and Local Biodiversity Outlooks.
A final implementation report covering 2023-2030 will be developed to evaluate the achievements and theoverall impact of IPSI on the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,
SDGs, and other relevant initiatives, and including a survey of IPSI members on their individual
contributions. The report will seek to highlight lessons learned and create the groundwork for thedevelopment of the next IPSI Strategy and Plan of Action, as appropriate.

Indicators:
The following indicators will be taken into account to measure the progress of implementing the strategic
objectives during the process of developing mid-term and final implementation reports. These indicators
may be revised and updated in line with the finalisation of the monitoring framework for the KunmingMontreal Global Biodiversity Framework expected to take place at Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of
the Parties (COP-16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Key indicator

Strategic objectives

1

Number of IPSI members

1

2

Number of case studies

1

3

Number of publications on SEPLS produced by IPSI and its members, including academic
papers, SITR, books, and reports

1

4

Number of IPSI newsletters published1

5

Number of academic papers and publications which refer to IPSI-related work

1, 2

6

Number of MEA decisions and NBSAPs referring to IPSI-related work2

7

Number of IPSI-related conferences and meetings

2

8

Number of people trained by relevant capacity development activities

2

9

Increased capacities of IPSI members and related stakeholders in knowledge documentationand transfer, research, and educational activities concerning SEPLS management2

10

Number and area of SEPLS reported as PAs and/or OECMs

3

11

Better management effectiveness of PAs and/or OECMs through SEPLS management

12

Number of IPSI member organizations engaged in restoration activities

4

13

Number and area or volume of SEPLS under ecosystem restoration

4

14

Number of IPSI members able to take advantage of sustainable trade initiatives

5

15

Number of case studies documenting best practices and success stories of economic, market,
and financial mechanisms

5

16

Increase in uptake of products from SEPLS and the SEPLS concept in activities of actors
outside the SEPLS (e.g. consumers, planners outside SEPLS, private sector)

517

Number of initiatives implemented for each strategic objective.

All

18

Number of SDGs targets to which IPSI made a contribution

All

19

Number of targets of the Kunming-Montreal GBF to which IPSI made a contributionAll