smallgrantsprogramme 410d ago

The Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative Programme (COMDEKS) was launched in 2011 as a flagship programme of the Satoyama Initiative, a global effort to promote the sustainable use of natural resources in landscapes and seascapes with local communities. Known as socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS), these landscapes and seascapes include many uses, from farming and fishing to forestry. Their productivity and resilience are central to the economic well-being and cultural identity of communities who depend on them throughout the world. With support from the Ministry of the Environment of Japan (MOEJ) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been implementing COMDEKS through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) for over a decade. Since its launch in 2011, COMDEKS has supported over 400 community projects in 20 countries across three phases. In 2022, the programme entered its fourth phase, with support from MOEJ as well as the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund (KNCF). COMDEKS Phase 4 is being implemented in 15 countries and is currently supporting locally-led projects across a range of landscapes and seascapes focused on biodiversity conservation and sustainable management. On 22 April 2025, the Keidanren Nature Conservation Council (KNCC) and UNDP hosted an online seminar entitled “Societies in harmony with nature: locally-led landscape approaches” in collaboration with the MOEJ and the International Partnership for Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) Secretariat. The seminar provided updates on COMDEKS implementation to date and presented case studies from Cameroon, Costa Rica and Türkiye.