The Satoyama Initiative, proposed by the Government of Japan and the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), and endorsed at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP10) in 2010 in Aichi, Japan, is a global effort to promote landscape and seascape approaches for biodiversity and human well-being. The Initiative focuses its efforts on “socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS)”, which are dynamic mosaics of habitats and land/sea use that provide the goods and services needed for human life while being managed to maintain biodiversity.

As one of the drivers of the global environmental crisis, unsustainable food systems are of particular concern. Such systems have promoted unsustainable land and sea use, increasing greenhouse gases and pollution, leading to the loss of biodiversity and climate change. Conversely, SEPLS or ‘Satoyama’ and ‘Satoumi’ are good examples that have been developed in Japan throughout history and are well known as sustainable food production landscapes and seascapes.

In this session, we will discuss how SEPLS have the potential to function in a sustainable food system, not only for production but also in terms of other aspects within the food system as a whole. Looking at how SEPLS can promote the transformation of food systems globally, discussions will aim to link the concept of SEPLS to recent scientific research on food systems. Following presentations of case studies from Taiwan and Mexico. there will be a panel discussion featuring international experts on this topic.