Go4BioDiv 2010 in Japan
The second International Youth Forum carried on the success of the first one and took place in Japan in October 2010, in parallel to the 10th Conference of the Parties of the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD-COP). Its theme was “Our Treasures at Risk – World Heritage in Times of Climate Change” and it was organized jointly by the German Society for International Corporation GIZ,UNESCO, IUCN, the Japanese University of Tsukuba , and the Secretariat of the CBD.
Its 34 participants, aged between 18 and 30, came from 25 natural World Heritage sites around the globe which can be seen as the “charismatic crown jewels” of biodiversity. Being acknowledged by the World Heritage Convention and of international importance, these sites represent the common concern and responsibility of humankind for biodiversity conservation beyond all national boundaries and particular interests – and they point out how urgently solutions are needed. Many of the threats to outstanding natural areas are created by human intervention, e.g. through the overuse of resources, pollution, mass tourism and climate change. In order to conserve our treasures for the coming generations, their ecosystems’ resilience has to be increased and good management, societal support and adequate finances for Protected Areas have to be ensured.
The wide range of natural areas and their different challenges were represented at Go4BioDiv through World Heritage sites from the five continents – the young participants came amongst others from the German Wadden Sea, the Greenlandic glacier Illulisat Icefjord, the foothills of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the habitat of the dangerously threatened gorillas in Kahuzi Biega National Park in Congo (DRC), the legendary sanctuary of the Inca Machu Picchu in Peru, the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, the snow-covered mountains of the Himalaya in Nepal, the world’s largest cave system covered with abundant forests in Vietnam, the colorful Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the climate-change threatened small island Tonga.
For reaching political decision-makers and the wider public, the Go4BioDiv Messengers developed creative contributions during a ten-day camp at Mt. Fuji – for example a colorfully painted wooden box with symbolic treasures from their World Heritage sites and a dance choreography. A jointly produced short movie with personal messages and an exhibition about the sites and the participants was presented along with the treasure box and the dance performance at the biodiversity conference in Nagoya. The young adults interacted with decision makers from IUCN, UNESCO, the Secretariat of the CBD and the host country Japan in panel discussions and symposiums, debating for example about the role of indigenous communities and the responsibility of science and technology.