Providing data necessary for conservation and management of mangroves that support living creatures and our livelihoods, based on earth observation satellite data.

Mangrove loss crisis

Mangrove is a general term for plants that grow where freshwater and seawater mix in the tropics, and is distributed throughout the world, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. The mangroves are surrounded by a great variety of creatures.
Mangroves are also closely related to our lives. For example, they protect us from coastal erosion, typhoons and tsunamis, and reduces the risk of natural disasters. In addition, mangroves absorb and store much more carbon dioxide than forests on land. This has been shown to contribute significantly to climate change mitigation.
Thus, mangroves are very important for the global environment and our lives. However, in recent years they have been rapidly declining around the world due to logging for securing timber and making shrimp farms.

Understanding the global distribution of mangroves using “Global Mangrove Watch”

Global Mangrove Watch monitors changes in global mangrove distribution based on JAXA’s ALOS Forest/Non-forest Map data (25 m resolution), using other various data. It allows us to calculate the amount of change in mangrove extent for each country. This data was adopted as official data for SDG 6.6.1 indicator (Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time) by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2019. It is used for assessing increase/decrease in mangrove distribution around the world and assists counties in preparing SDG progress reports.

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  JAXA contributes to raising awareness and improving human capacity on climate change, by releasing products of forests and mangroves free of charge and visualizing data necessary for conservation and management of mangroves.
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  JAXA promotes international cooperation and contributions through the release of Global Mangrove Watch, and contributes to enhancing North-South, and regional and international cooperation on science, technology and innovation and its utilization.