FOREST GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE
Forest can change the world - Forest Governance Initiative will contribute to the global tropical forest and biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation by using Japan's advanced satellite technology and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
The Forest Governance Initiative is promoted by a partnership between JICA, JAXA, and supporting private corporations. Any development partner and private company are welcomed to join the initiative to work together for the conservation of the world’s tropical forests.
On December 1, 2015, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced the Forest Governance Initiative at the UNFCCC COP21 in Paris (JICA press release).
The initiative has been creating a new JICA-JAXA Forest Early Warning System in the Tropics (JJ-FAST) that tracks deforestation and forest loss with JAXA's Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2).
The Initiative also promotes capacity development of personnel for sustainable forest management in developing countries and spreading knowledge about good practices on forest conservation around the world.
Forest conservation is critical in the fight against climate change. However, the loss of tropical forests continues unabated due to agricultural expansion, wood extraction, infrastructure expansion, illegal logging and other factors, and implementing measures to stop such losses is a global priority.
JJ-FAST will maintain a constant watch on deforestation and forest loss in tropical regions of the globe and provide open access to its findings. The system using ALOS-2 can monitor forest cover changes in tropical forests despite the cloud cover that is typically found in such areas. With a resolution of up to 50 meters, the findings of JJ-FAST will be updated about every six weeks on average to the JJ-FAST website.
The initiative promotes capacity development of personnel for sustainable forest management in developing countries through training courses in Japan and regional seminars. The initiative spreads knowledge about good practices on forest conservation around the world through the JJ-FAST web-site and international conferences.
For more information on activities under the Forest Governance Initiative
It is expected that these efforts will help countries with serious deforestation issues, and in the long term, help control the reduction of forests as an effective measure against climate change.
