JICA-JAXA Collaboration “System for Monitoring of Tropical Rainforest -Initiative for Improvement of Forest Governance-”

The new and efficient framework for ALOS-2 towards an efficient early warning system for deforestation and forest monitoring in tropical rainforest regions, launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will be introduced, expectations of developing countries for its wide application, and further discussing the measures to promote forest conservation.

1. Opening Remarks

   Mr. Makoto Oniki, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Environment, Government of Japan

2. Concept of the system for monitoring of tropical forest

   Mr. Kenichi Shishido, Deputy Director General, Global Environment Department, JICA

3. Technical aspects of the system for monitoring of tropical forest

   Dr. Masanobu Shimada, Associate Principal Researcher of JAXA; Professor of Tokyo Denki University

4. Challenges and Expectations for tropical forest countries

   Mr. Takeshi Goto, Assistant Director, International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
   Mr. Gewa Gamoga, Manager, REDD & Climate Change Branch, Papua New Guinea Forest Authority

5. Q&A Session

JICA and JAXA have launched a new initiative for the improvement of forest governance. In this initiative, using JAXA's Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS-2), JICA and JAXA will develop an early warning system for deforestation and the monitoring of tropical forests. Deforestation and monitoring data, with spatial resolution of 50m renewed every 1.5 months, will be accessible freely through a website.

During the session, Mr. Shishido (JICA) explained an outline of this initiative and introduced an outcome from a past JICA technical cooperation project in Brazil. Dr. Shimada (JAXA) explained the technical benefits of the PALSAR (Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Rader) equipment installed in the ALOS-2 satellite and technical aspects of the monitoring system.

Mr. Goto (ITTO) explained the current situation regarding tropical forests, results from a survey of sustainable forest management and challenges for the future. Mr. Gewa (PNG) introduced the current situation with regard to forests in PNG and expectations for, semi real-time based, forest monitoring through the utilization of ALOS-2.

At the Q&A session, there was only one question from the floor regarding ITTO's activities. After the session, several countries (Cambodia etc.) indicated an expectation to utilize the system.

Countries with tropical forests such as Brazil where Amazon forest exist, have already shown strong interests in the early warning system. JICA and JAXA will establish the "System for Tropical Forest Monitoring" and contribute to global forest conservation by using Japan's advanced satellite technology.

Yuki Okada, Forestry & Nature conservation Group, Global Environment Department, JICA

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