Side event details

Rice paddies, agricultural lands with wetland functions, can serve as wetland ecosystems that are home to a variety of living creatures if properly managed. In addition to food production, rice paddies provide ecosystem services such as disaster prevention, water source cultivation, formation of good landscapes and cultural transmission. They play a significant role as habitats and ecological corridors for waterfowl, sustaining their populations and contributing to biodiversity conservation. In some areas of Japan, various efforts are underway at rice paddies, including the ‘Winter-flooded Rice Paddies’, a very effective measure for conserving migratory birds, and such wetlands have been designated as Ramsar sites.

“30by30” is a target of the KMGBF adopted at CBD COP15 in 2022. In order to achieve the 30by30 target, in addition to expanding protected areas and improving their management quality, there is also a need to designate and manage OECMs (Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures) that contribute to biodiversity conservation outside of protected areas. For this purpose, it is important to expand such areas managed by the private sector and other entities.

OECMs also draw attention of the parties to the Ramsar Convention, as a draft resolution on OECMs has been proposed by the governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Zimbabwe at COP15.

In Japan, in relation to OECMs, areas where biodiversity conservation is being promoted through private initiatives and other means are certified as "Nationally Certified Sustainably Managed Natural Sites". As of March 2025, 328 sites with a total area of 93,000 ha including rice paddies have been certified. In April 2025, a new act, the “Act on Promoting Activities to Enhance Regional Biodiversity (Regional Biodiversity Promotion Act)” will also come into effect for the legislation of Nationally Certified Sustainably Managed Natural Sites. Furthermore, efforts to protect and enhance natural capital as the foundation of a country's economy and society are important for achieving the Nature Positive goal. A platform of committed stakeholders including private companies, local governments and communities called the “30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity” has also been launched, and collaboration and cooperation between those stakeholders are taking place.

In addition, based on the Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems, MeaDRI (Measures for achievement of Decarbonization and Resilience with Innovation), Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) promotes sustainable consumption through “ChoiSTAR”, a labelling system to indicate producers' efforts for reducing environmental impact by the number of stars, in order to promote food systems in harmony with natural environment. For rice paddies, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the status of biodiversity conservation are also visualised, further promoting sustainable initiatives. Farmland, including rice paddies that take biodiversity conservation into consideration, has extremely high potential as OECMs.

This side event will introduce policies of both Japanese and Korean governments for promoting biodiversity and OECMs at rice paddies, as well as case studies of local communities. It is hoped that this event will help Contracting Parties in developing their policies, frameworks and systems for wetland conservation.