http://www.fao.org/giahs/en/ This presentation was presented during the Joint Meeting of Steering and Scientific Commitee that took place at FAO headquarters 28-29 April 2015. The presentation was made by Mr. Akira Nagata, UNU

1. The Development of GIAHS Initiative
-Commitments from United Nations University-
Akira Nagata
Senior Programme Coordinator
United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS)
nagata@unu.edu
Science/Steering Committee Meeting-GIAHS Initiative
28-29 April 2014, FAO HQ, Rome, Italy

2. UNU & GIAHS Initiative
 Since the inception of the GIAHS initiative by FAO in 2002, UNU has partnered closely with FAO
to assist in identification of pilot sites through case studies in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
 In particular, UNU provided technical assistance support and expert advice on GIAHS
applications to 1 site in China (Rice-Fish Culture), 5 sites in Japan and 2 sites in Korea.
 From the first GIAHS International Workshop held in India on Nov 2007, UNU has been actively
supporting the development of GIAHS initiative in Asia. In recent years, UNU has also taken
initiative to coordinate bi-lateral cooperation and exchanges on agricultural heritages systems
between China-Japan and Japan-Korea since 2012.
Korea-China-Japan Workshop on
Agricultural Heritage Systems, Korea (2013)
GIAHS pilot site designation of Rice-Fish
Culture Zhejiang, China (2005）
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Celebration event for GIAHS designation
of Japan’s Noto and Sado GIAHS Sites,
Ishikawa, Japan (2011）

3. UNU & GIAHS Initiative(cont’d)
 Building on this network, UNU has also promoted joint
cooperation amongst China-Japan-Korea from 2013, which
then led to the establishment of the “East Asian Research
Association for Agricultural Heritage Systems (ERAHS)”in
October 2013, as proposed by Prof. Min from IGSNRR, China.
 The first ERAHS Conference was held in Xinghua City, Jiangsu
Province, China on 7-10 April 2014, where FAO GIAHS
Coordinator Mr. Enomoto, GIAHS Senior Advisor Parvis
Koohafkan, GIAHS Steering Committee Chairman Prof. Li
Wenhua and UNU Senior Vice Rector Prof. Kazuhiko Takeuchi
attended.
 About 200 experts and officials from China, Japan, Korea and
international organizations participated in active discussions
on GIAHS related scientific research and best practices on
conservation and committed to further active cooperation.
 China, Japan and Korea will take turns to host ERAHS
Conference. The second ERAHS Conference will be held in
Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan in June 2015. Korea will
host the third conference in 2016.
1st ERAHS Conference, Jiangsu, China (2014)
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2nd ERAHS Conference to be held in GIAHS Site of
Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan in June 2015

4. Suggestions from UNU
As an active partner since the launch of GIAHS initiative, UNU would like to propose the
following suggestions for its future development:
1) Clarification of GIAHS Application Procedures
 Need to clarify and concretize the application procedures; which should include the submission
of proposal to FAO, FAO field visit, circulation of proposal and action plan to GIAHS
Steering/Scientific Committee, proposal presentation made to and review by GIAHS
Steering/Scientific Committee.
 Also the sharing of application schedule/timeline of each application to ensure enough time for
review. Details of application procedures should be made available on the FAO GIAHS website.
2) Ensure Regional Balance of GIAHS sites
 Currently GIAHS sites are concentrated in East Asia, thus need to expand GIAHS to other regions
in the world. Most East Asian GIAHS sites have experience to share with other interested regions.
FAO could take leadership to bring together and utilize expertise from GIAHS countries or
international organizations like UNU to expand the GIAHS initiative to other regions.
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5. Suggestions from UNU(cont’d)
3) Enhance Information Outreach of GIAHS
 The FAO GIAHS website is the most important source of information on GIAHS, where interested
users from all over the world access for information on GIAHS. However, currently the
categorization of GIAHS designated sites and potential sites on the FAO GIAHS website is unclear.
 Also contact information for GIAHS Coordinator (Mr. Enomoto) is also not clearly stated on the
website, making it difficult for interested applicants/experts to contact him. Thus the GIAHS
website should be revamped/updated to provide clear and latest information to enhance the
information outreach of GIAHS initiative. 5
Main page of some regions shows list of “existing sites” and “potential sites”,
while others do not differentiate the categorization.
Main page for Central & South
America shows list of “existing sites”
and “potential sites”
No main page for Middle East &
Central Asia showing GIAHS sites list

6. UNU’s Commitment for GIAHS Initiative
In relation to the suggestions proposed, UNU as an active partner of GIAHS would commit to
the following:
1) Academic Research on GIAHS
 Building on our many years of expertise on agro-diversity, along with our recent
researches on rural depopulation and aging issues in China-Japan-Korea and developed
countries, UNU is currently conducting research on dynamic conservation of GIAHS under
its “Agri-Cultural Systems” project. The research outcomes will be reflected to FAO for
review of GIAHS criteria in future.
 UNU will commit to the academic research on GIAHS through our research on GIAHS
criteria assessment and monitoring methodologies.
2) Technical Assistance and Expert Advice Support for GIAHS Application
 UNU has provided technical assistance and expert advise to many GIAHS sites in China,
Japan, Korea etc and supported their successful application. UNU is also actively providing
technical support to potential sites in Japan.
 Utilizing our experience and know-how, UNU commits to actively provide technical
support upon request from FAO, applicant countries or local governments etc.
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7. UNU’s Commitment for GIAHS Initiative(cont’d)
3) Promote Public Awareness of GIAHS
 The value of GIAHS goes hand-in-hand with its public awareness, thus UNU has been
actively conducting international workshop and conferences to promote GIAHS both in
Japan (where UNU HQ is located) and overseas. Also UNU actively promotes GIAHS on our
website and is the current webmaster for ERAHS (East Asia Research Association for
Agricultural Heritage Systems).
 UNU commits to increase public awareness of GIAHS through promoting GIAHS at
various meetings and enhancing outreach on UNU websites.
4) Foster International Cooperation and Exchange on GIAHS
 UNU has been playing an active role in coordinating international cooperation and
exchange on GIAHS amongst China, Japan and Korea, as well as promoting cooperation
and collaboration amongst GIAHS sites in Japan.
 Making use of UNU’s advantage as an international organization, UNU commits to
contribute GIAHS initiative in support of FAO through fostering international
cooperation and exchange.
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8. THANK YOU
United Nations University
(Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan)