Renowned Journal Aims to Inspire COP10 to Action
Online, October 8, 2010 (Newswire.com) - KYOTO-The award-winning international quarterly Kyoto Journal has produced a landmark theme issue, "Biodiversity," that aims to inform and inspire delegates at this month's United Nations' biodiversity summit to take decisive action to protect life on Earth.
COP10, the UN's conference on the preservation of biological diversity on our planet, runs from October 18 through 29 in Nagoya, Japan. COP10 is a pivotal event, since a single species - Homo sapiens - is on the brink of deciding the continued existence or annihilation of countless fellow species. Each day, up to a hundred vanish forever, many due to habitat loss and climate change brought about by humans.
Kyoto Journal has taken the COP10 summit as a call to action, an opportunity to contribute a diversity of voices to the dialogue, which is already being lopsidedly shaped by corporate interests. The result: a brilliantly designed issue with first-rate writing sure to inspire creative solutions to the loss of biodiversity. Issue 75 of "KJ" not only showcases the preservation of biodiversity in Japan through satoyama (rural areas where people have lived with the land and on it without spoiling it over many generations, preserving and even promoting biodiversity); it also includes the voices of essayists, poets, photographers, artists, scientists and businesspeople from all over the world working passionately to sustain biodiversity in their own lands. KJ will distribute the journal to delegates at COP10, who will adopt a new biodiversity strategic plan.
"Living here in Kyoto, within easy reach of Nagoya, we editors realized nearly a year ago that we had a role to play at COP10," explained KJ founding editor John Einarsen. "Our planet is nearing a tipping point. And our own species' fate can't be separated from the health of the Earth's delicate, thin biosphere and the other species who share that zone with us." Einarsen created the non-profit, all-volunteer KJ in 1986. Lauded for its excellence in both content and design, Kyoto Journal is one of the longest-running independent English-language publications in Japan, with subscribers in dozens of countries. Based in Japan's ancient capital, KJ's mission is to nurture deeper understanding and appreciation of the cultures of Asia. And while Asia is a big backyard, with "Biodiversity" the magazine goes global.
"We editors are not scientists or members of any government or special group," said Einarsen, who is also KJ's art director. "We're just ordinary citizens of the world, like so many elsewhere, who are deeply worried and sincerely wish for COP10 delegates to embrace their conscience, courage and vision to construct bold, meaningful policies that will preserve and even advance life on this precious Earth before it's too late. This special biodiversity issue is an expression of our heartfelt support for the COP10 delegates' efforts. They need to know that people everywhere are hoping they will succeed. And the voices we've gathered offer knowledge and/or inspiration through a sense of wonder." One article written especially for KJ 75 by UN conference veteran and longtime Japan-based journalist Eric Johnston, delves into the workings of such large-scale conferences, their pitfalls and what needs to happen for them to succeed. Another exclusive, by Project Censored Award-winning journalist W. David Kubiak, shows how and why eco-activists may serve as Earth's immune response to the illness of corporism, healing the planet and reconnecting our governance to the deepest needs of life.
Scientists, Artists, Activists, Authors and Spiritual Leaders
For one section of the magazine, to create an opportunity for people worldwide to share their utmost concerns at COP10, KJ solicited concise, 500-word essays on biodiversity. The response was overwhelming. In the end, more than 70 contributors were selected to appear in the print and online editions. They include Sam Levin, a high school student in Massachusetts who co-founded a student garden that now provides food in all three cafeterias of his school district; Claire Nouvian, the renowned French journalist, producer and film director who coined the neologism "oceanocide"; Dr. George Sugihara, a theoretician at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who explains why linear models of nature fail to see the truth; Koji Yuki, an indigenous Ainu storyteller who asserts that facts alone are not enough; Quentin Wheeler, an acclaimed taxonomist seeking to discover and describe Earth's estimated 10 million species; pioneering eco-artists Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison on how to prevent the catastrophic effects of global warming on the glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau, which supply fresh water to billions of people in ten countries; and field biologist Sam Stier on how "biomimicry" (engineering and design based on nature) can improve our lives. Also featured: famed nature writers Barry Lopez, Caroline Fraser, Thomas Berry, Gary Snyder, Vandana Shiva, Peter Matthiessen, C.W. Nicol and Bill McKibben, along with celebrated animal photographer Andrew Zuckerman, underwater lensman Wayne Levin, natural world painter Isabella Kirkland, seaweed artist Noda Michiyo, Zen roshi Susan Murphy, Shinto priest Ueda Masaki, eco-economist Pavan Sukhdev, Resurgence editor and author Satish Kumar, and KJ's rambler-at-large, Robert Brady.
Understanding Satoyama
KJ 75's full title is "Biodiversity: Japan's Satoyama and Our Shared Future." Why? Ever since the UN's decision to hold COP10 in Nagoya, the Japanese government and many Japanese corporations have appropriated the concept of "satoyama," the traditional Japanese practice of eco-agriculture. While some of their efforts have no doubt been sincere, others offer mere superficial, romanticized versions of satoyama, some of which support hidden corporate agendas to promote projects or products at the conference. As longtime observers of Japan, Kyoto Journal's editors knew it was vital to offer a balanced, in-depth report on satoyama that does not idealize the concept, yet shows its very real potential for biodiversity preservation. This 22-page section, with stunning color photos by Kit Takenaga, was created by a special team: Winifred Bird, a Japan environmental journalist; Brian Williams, a 30-year satoyama resident, eminent landscape painter and environmentalist; Jane Singer, a professor of environmental policy at Kyoto University; and Stewart Wachs, a veteran KJ Associate Editor.
Complementing the print issue, KJ has produced a Web edition with 30 more exclusive online features - all downloadable free as PDF files at http://www.kyotojournal.org/biodiversity/ .
There's Jared Braiterman on how creating habitat for the fictional character Totoro can revivify the real Tokyo; Midori Paxton on strategies that her agency (UNDP) is using to protect ecosystems facing climate change; James Wood on seedbanking; Richard Murphy on why our shared atoms, genetic alphabet and destiny mean all living organisms are one family; Gen Del Raye on how the same ingenuity we employ to catch fish can be used to sustain them; Clara Shinobu Iura on why ancient indigenous wisdom can save ancient endangered rainforests; and David Ng on how a Pokemon-like game known as Phylomon uses wonder-inducing trading cards to teach children all about the diverse creatures and plants in our world.
Kyoto Journal is sponsored by the Heian Bunka Center, an educational institute for the promotion of Japanese calligraphy based in Kyoto. Chief editor of this special issue is Stewart Wachs; it was designed by John Einarsen. An insert guide to biodiversity sites in and around Nagoya for COP10 delegates and media was created by KJ intern Kamibayashi Takuya.
Kyoto Journal Press Conference at COP10: Monday, October 18th, 5:00-5:30pm
International Conference Room (Room 3f) in Building 3
Contacts:
John Einarsen, Kyoto Journal founding editor and art director; Phone: +81(0)75-761-1433;
Email: feedback@kyotojournal.org
Stewart Wachs, Kyoto Journal associate editor and chief editor of "Biodiversity";
Mobile phone: +81 (0)80-3130-5600; Email: editors@kyotojournal.org
Kyoto Journal Website: http://www.kyotojournal.org/