The Tadami Biosphere Reserve Overseas Exchange Special Seminar, sponsored by Tadami Town, was held from 14:00-16:00 on September 7, 2024, in the second floor of the Asahi Community Center Hall in Tadami Town, Fukushima Prefecture. The seminar began with a speech from Tadami Town Mayor Isao WATANABE welcoming the visit of Dr. Miguel Clüsener-Godt and his wife, and UNESCO Chair holder of YNU Hiroyuki Matsuda, and it was reported that the Tadami Biosphere Reserve submitted its periodic review report to the Japanese MAB National Committee on September 2.
Dr. Miguel Clüsener-Godt then gave a 60-minute presentation, with consecutive interpretation by Hiroyuki Matsuda, entitled “Biosphere Reserves and the UNESCO MAB Programme: The Relevance of Nature Conservation with Integrated Sustainable Development,” in which he presented the activities of biosphere reserves around the world that aim to reconcile the development of local communities with nature conservation. During his many years with UNESCO, Dr. Miguel Clüsener-Godt has visited BRs, World Heritage Sites and Geoparks around the world and is familiar with their different circumstances.
The Q&A session lasted about 40 minutes and included good questions from the audience (Q&A Summary), which Dr. Miguel Clüsener-Godt answered with the help of Hiroyuki Matsuda interpreting. Questions ranged from the role of transition areas in BRs, to how local people are involved in BRs, to the differences between BRs and World Heritage Sites, to how to use the Yayoi cedars that fell in Yakushima during this month’s typhoon. While the core areas are there to protect biodiversity, the transition areas are places for sustainable development by the local community; first the children learn through education, and then their parents learn from them, which will increase the number of local leaders; while World Heritage sites are there to protect value and pass it on to the next generation, BRs are model sites to create value by finding ways to use natural resources sustainably; and even Yayoi cedars, which are thousands of years old, have a finite lifespan, so it is important to thrive their descendants.
After the meeting, Dr. Niikuni guided Dr. Miguel Clüsener-Godt and his wife and Representative Matsuda to the Museum of Objects and Living Storage Facility next to the venue, which is usually closed to the public, and introduced them to 10,000 folk tools. On September 5th, the NHK TV program “Jiron Koron” discussed issues surrounding the storage of folk tools in museums around the country, and introduced Tadami as a success story.
Matsuda acts as an interpreter, and Miguel and his wife listen. and snowcoat.
That evening, a dinner party was held by the town of Tadami, and Mayor Watanabe presented a commemorative gift to Dr. Miguel.
