Grey Coupland

International Symposium: Miyawaki Forests and Urban Forests 

－ Towards the Creation of Miyawaki Forests as Nature Labs in Schools

Objectives:

1. To bring together key experts, enthusiasts and supporters of Miyawaki Forests and other urban forest initiatives to discuss how to increase the scale and implementation of urban forest ideas
2. To bring together key organisations, such as UNCCD, UNEP, FAO, IUCN, WWF, UNESCO and ICRAF, who could help support and promote urban forest concepts globally
3. To discuss experiences and strategies for urban forest implementation, in particular, school-forest experiences and strategies globally, and to come out with recommendations for scaling up and coordination.

• Explore the potential of Miyawaki forests as nature labs in schools.
• Discuss how these labs can connect young people and children with land, nature, and biodiversity.
• Showcase successful school implementations of Miyawaki forests.
• Share strategies for fundraising and resource mobilization for school-based nature labs.
• Highlight how Miyawaki Forests can be used to increase awareness about climate change, biodiversity loss and land restoration.

From October 10-14, 2024, the International Symposium on Miyawaki Forests and Urban Forests was held at Yokohama National University (YNU). The symposium featured presentations showcasing the diverse potential of Miyawaki forests in addressing urban and environmental challenges.

Total Number of Participants: 149 (87 from 27 overseas countries, 62 from Japan)

Secretary General: Makoto Nikkawa (Secretary General of MORINO PROJECT) info@morinoproject.com

Executive Committee: Kazue Fujiwara, Elgene O. Box, Grey Coupland, Teruko Sano, Mio Urata, Shin-ichi Suzuki, Kazuhiro Mizuta

Organizers: Muralee Thummarukudy, Director, Global Land Initiative, UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Bonn, Germany,

Organizers: MORINO PROJECT (鎮守の森のプロジェクト)