Dr. Toshiya Okuro is Professor of Landscape Ecology and Planning at the University of Tokyo. He has conducted research on desertification, land degradation control, and the restoration of ecosystem services in drylands for more than 30 years, with field experience in China, Mongolia, Burkina Faso, Brazil, and Ethiopia. His work has emphasized sustainable land management through international collaborative projects on ecological thresholds and early warning systems for desertification, decision support for restoration technologies, and the development and dissemination of greening practices.

In parallel, he has pursued research on the conservation and restoration of agricultural ecosystems facing underuse, particularly in paddy-centered agro-ecosystems in Japan. He contributed to the Japan Satoyama Satoumi Assessment (JSSA) as a Coordinating Lead Author, and to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) as a Lead Author for the thematic assessment on land degradation and restoration.

He currently serves as President of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture, Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Landscape and Ecological Engineering (Springer Nature), and Chair of Japan GLP Committee under the Science Council of Japan.