Cross-sector exchange meetings at the “Biodiversity Collaboration Forum” to mainstream biodiversity: Effects on citizens, government, business, and academia

Biodiversity and ecosystem services are rapidly being lost on a global scale. To prevent biodiversity loss, the issue must be tackled by all sectors of society. To identify effective ways to distribute information about good practices in conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity within a region, and to accelerate cross-sector collaboration, the “Biodiversity Collaboration Forum” involving citizens, government, businesses, and academia was held annually from 2011 to 2016 in Kansai, Japan. We evaluated the effectiveness of the forum by having the audience complete a questionnaire. Of the respondents, 89.0% answered that, “Their awareness of biodiversity efforts had improved greatly or improved.” Respondents tended to demand opportunities for human interaction rather than opportunities to present their own activities at a future meeting. There were differences among sectors regarding the kinds of biodiversity activities to prioritize in the future. The audience tended to be more interested in presentations and lectures by people belonging to their own sector, implying difficulties in cross-sector communication. Cross-sector exchange meetings on various topics, held on a regular basis as “Biodiversity Collaboration Forums”, will increase public awareness of the importance of biodiversity, although cross-sector communication also needs to be improved.