Figure3-3-2 Hotspots and Populated Areas

Note: Populated areas = The world's top 30 populous countries (China, India, U.S., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, Germany, Egypt, Ethiopia, Turkey, Iran, Thailand, Congo, France, Britain, Italy, Myanmar, South Africa, Korea, Ukraine, Spain, Colombia and Tanzania)

Source: Prepared by Ministry of the Environment based on materials provided by Conservation International (www.conservation.or.jp)

areas that have the high level of biodiversity with at least 1,500 indigenous species of vascular plants and yet at risk of destruction with 70% or more of natural vegetation damaged. A total of 34 areas are designated as hotspots globally, including Japan. The hotspots cover only 2.3% of the surface area of the earth, but include many densely populated areas, an indication of heavy development pressures (Figure 3-3-2).

At present, as seen in the Introductory Chapter, half of the world population lives in cities, in only 2.8% of the earth's land areas. Urban populations keep increasing, with two-thirds of the global population projected to be living in cities by 2050. Urban residents and economic activities consume 75% of resources being consumed by mankind, with a considerable degree of dependence of benefits from biodiversity in surrounding areas (ecosystem services). In fact, the food self-sufficiency rate by prefecture for FY 2007, announced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, is 1% for Tokyo, 2% for Osaka and 3% for Kanagawa, clearly showing the actual situation that big cities are producing little food to feed their residents.

However, the history of cities is widely varied and they have different backgrounds, including the mode of land utilization and the extent of urbanization as well as economic, social and cultural conditions. As the distribution of living organisms is either shrinking or expanding in accordance with the stage of urban development, as shown in Figure 3-3-3 and in Figure 5-1-5 in Part II, it is deemed necessary to build relationships with biodiversity suitable to respective cities.

In November 2009, the “Local Government Conference on Biodiversity 2009” was held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, with the participation of 103 municipal governments in Japan, sponsored by Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya City and the Aichi-Nagoya COP10 CBD Promotion Committee. In preparation for the “City Biodiversity Summit 2010” scheduled to be called to coincide with COP10, the conference participants discussed problems common to municipalities in Japan and exchanged information on their initiatives for the conservation of biodiversity. In a report on discussions at the conference, the participants confirmed the items that were deemed important when local authorities carry out policies and measures for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in the future, including the comprehensive perspective of “biodiversity” and the wisdom of a system of circulation and coexistence with the environment.

The cooperation among local governments has been extended globally. Already in 1990, officials from over 200 local governments of 43 countries gathered at the United Nations in New York City for the “World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future,” and established the International Council for