Linking Nature and Culture in Asia and the Pacific: Initiatives for Advancing Knowledge and Scaling-up Capacity Building in Landscape Conservation

Recognizing the need to bridge the divide between nature and culture for the effective management of landscapes, conserving biodiversity and safeguarding cultural diversity, in this session we will share two interdisciplinary initiatives that are bridging the work of nature and culture sectors in Asia and the Pacific. The UNESCO Chair on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, and the UNESCO Category 2 Centre on Natural Heritage Management and Training for Asia and the Pacific Region at the Wildlife Institute of India, will present two international projects, one on capacity building and the other on case-studies, which showcase how heritage practitioners from both sectors have been collaborating and sharing knowledge in landscape conservation. A brief presentation will be followed by a panel discussion on key challenges with a view to engage the general audience into developing next steps within and beyond the Asia and the Pacific region.