From May 25 to July 7, 2015, seven government administrative officials from Albania, El Salvador, Fiji, Mexico, Uganda and Malaysia came to Japan to learn about the sustainable use of wetland resources for local benefit.
This issue-specific 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 (KIWC).
Traveling from Tokyo to Chiba, Okinawa, Fujiyoshida, Tochigi and Hokkaido, the trainees learned about a variety of wetlands, including marshes, tidal flats, coral reefs, rivers and rice paddies. Specifically, they were introduced to activities and initiatives conducted to conserve wetlands in these areas, methods and ideas 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 Yatsu-higata (Chiba), Manko (Okinawa) and Watarase-yusuichi (Tochigi), as well as Kushiro-shitsugen, Akkeshi-ko and Bekambeushi-shitsugen and Kiritappu-shitsugen (Hokkaido). Through these interactions, the trainees learned the background behind decisions to implement conservation efforts as well as examples of regional development leveraging wetland characteristics (e.g., branding of agricultural and fishery products, related utilization for tourism, and environmental education).
Based on these various experiences, the trainees developed draft activity plans to be implemented after returning to their countries to promote the conservation and sustainable use of wetland resources and biodiversity by local residents for local residents. They gave presentations on these plans at the end of the training program.
