Genes, species and ecosystems are the building blocks of biodiversity, and their rapid loss threatens the delicate balance that sustains all life on Earth – including our own. While significant progress has been made in expanding protected areas globally, much of the planet’s biodiversity still exists outside these boundaries – frequently in the same places where people live and work, intricately woven into the daily lives and livelihoods of communities. As a result, the fate of this biodiversity – and the vital ecosystem services it provides – depends on how local communities manage the landscapes and seascapes where productive activities, such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, take place.

People and Nature Thriving Together.

This is the vision championed by the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative Programme (COMDEKS), which provides small-scale finance directly to local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

By supporting rural communities around the world to adopt sustainable practices, COMDEKS integrates traditional knowledge with modern innovation to show how local action can drive global impact. It focuses on socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS): dynamic mosaics of habitats – including farmlands, forests, wetlands, coastal areas and other vital ecosystems – shaped by generations of people living in harmony with nature, allowing these landscapes to maintain their biodiversity while sustaining the livelihoods, well-being, and cultural identity of local communities.

“This methodology places the needs of local civil society groups at the core of our efforts, supporting initiatives that promote resilient, socio-productive livelihoods and improved biodiversity,” explains Ariana Resenterra, SGP National Coordinator in Costa Rica.

The SEPLS concept was originally developed in Japan, where these areas are known as satoyama, a term that refers to humans and nature coexisting in a sustainable way. To understand this in action and exchange experiences from projects implemented under COMDEKS around the globe, Ariana and two other SGP National Coordinators – Gokmen Argun from Türkiye, and Aimé Kamga from Cameroon – travelled to Japan learn more.

Read the full story to follow their journey.