National Survey
on the Natural Environment of Japan

Hajime Hirosawa
Biodiversity Center of Japan
Ministry of the Environment (MOE)Biodiversity Center of Japan, MOE
 Establishment: 1998
 Purpose: to encourage theconservation of biodiversity inJapan and also to contribute tointernational
efforts
towardconserving biodiversity.

YamanashiPref.

 Staff: 20 people

Mt. FujiFunctions of Biodiversity Center■ Survey & Monitoring
SurveySpecimen&& Vegetation Survey
Monitoring
Document
 Monitoring Sites 1000
 IkimonoLog, etc.
■ Specimen & Document
Collection and storage of biologicalInternationalInformationspecimens and documents
cooperation■ Information
Collection, management, and public
service of information concerning
Productsbiodiversity
Conservation of Biodiversity■ International cooperation
Development of biodiversity information  Policy-making
 Environmental impact
system and observation network
assessment
 academic research, etc.

Vegetation survey
Purpose: to get information on the present state ofnatural vegetation and to create actual vegetation
maps* nationwide.
* Vegetation map: provide the most basic and essential data
for the conservation of natural environment

Vegetation map ofthe Mt. Fuji area

History of vegetation survey
1973

Actual vegetation map (scale 1:200,000)
with 53 sheets

1978 - 1987

Actual vegetation map (scale 1:50,000)
with 1,293 sheets

1988 - 1998

Identify the areas where the vegetation
changed from the previous survey by using
satellite images, and modified maps

1999 - present

Actual vegetation map (scale: 1:25,000)
with app. 4,700 sheets (77% is completed)Scale of vegetation map
The map scale has been increased from 1:200,000 to
1:50,000, then 1:25,000, in order to describe moreaccurately the distribution of small vegetation.

Increase
the scale

Scale : 1:50,000

Scale: 1:25,000

Produce of vegetation map
Vegetation (composition of plant species) of Japan is classified
into vegetation names of app. 900
Vegetation name

Aerial photographplantFieldsurvey

Interpreting
Vegetation map

Overlook of National vegetation in Japan*
Natural vegetation in Alpine zone
Natural vegetation
Substitutional vegetation
Plantation
Cultivated land
Others (city area)* Produced from the 1:50,000 vegetation map, in order to analyze thedistributions and ratios of each actual vegetation in Japan

GIS data of vegetation map
GIS data of vegetation map are created, and available forfree download on our Web-GIS system
Multi-layered map:
 Vegetation
 Animal distribution
 Protected area
 Geography etc.

http://gis.biodic.go.jp/webgis/ (only in Japanese)

GIS data displayed on Google EarthMonitoring Sites 1000
■ Purpose: To detect signs of ecosystemchange (e.g. species compositionand population) by l o n g - t e r mm o n i t o r i n g survey, accumulating
and analyzing quantitative data on
various types of ecosystem of Japan And, to publish the results in order
to assist academic research anddevelop appropriate nature
conservation measures■ Monitoring period:
The project was launched in 2003,
and it will be continued for 100 years
or moreLocation of Monitoring Sites 1000
LandLandwaterCoast(Ocean)

Alpine surveys
Forest and grassland surveys
Land bird surveys
Satochi surveys
Wetlands surveys
Lake surveys
Waterfowl surveys
Shore surveys
Tidal flat surveys
Snipe and plover surveys
Seaweed bed surveys
Zostera bed surveys
Coral reef surveys
Sea turtle surveys
Seabird surveys

App. 1,000
monitoring sites

Collaborative monitoringnetworkBusinessprocedure Monitoring is operated in cooperation with local experts,
NGO/NPOs and voluntary citizens (app. 5,000 people)
 In order to ensure the accuracy of monitoring, Survey
Manual were established, and then Training Workshop isorganized to improve the abilities of voluntary citizens

Survey ManualTraining Workshop

Publications on Monitoring Sites 1000*

Business procedure■ Annually:
 Annual report
Survey results, basic analysis, expert opinions
 Data file Survey bulletinannounce on the survey progress and important items■ Every five years:
 Summary report
Detailed analysis and examination based on the data
during the five years*All of these items areavailable on the website
http://www.biodic.go.jp/moni1000/index.html (only in Japanese)IkimonoLog■ Purpose: t o c o l l e c t the information of b i o logicalobservation nationwide by using the internet, and toprovide open access to these information.
■ Main functions:Search

Report

Apply thesystem forother surveys■ Annual access:More than 15,000,000
http://ikilog.biodic.go.jp/ (only in Japanese)Data flow of IkimonoLogExperts

Biologicalobservation data(app. 50,000 record /year)ResearchInstitutesGeneral
PublicCentral/Local
Governments

Data display

Map display

IkimonoLog

Download
Darwin Core (csv)
GIS (KML, shape)

Online report format of IkimonoLog
 Basic input:
 Species name Observation date Observation site
 Detailed input:
 Photograph Darwin Core data

* The format is equipped with
“Biological Name Database” that
automatically identify the standard
name of the reported species

Enter the observation dateEnter or select thespecies name*Enter or click on the map toregister observation site

Search results* of IkimonoLogSpecies list
Location map
Detailed information*These are available for download

Data sharing of Biodiversity Center
Biodiversity Center
Various basic information onbiodiversity is open to the public

Access andsearchUsers
On the webInternationaldatabases

Survey &Monitoring

Global datasharing(more than800,000
records so far)Specimen

Access andsearch

・GBIF・OBIS・BISMaL・JaLTER, etc.

Live Images of Nature
 Live images on nature scenery of 70 stations every hour Annual access: more than 40,000,000
 English page is available

http://www.sizenken.biodic.go.jp/index.php

Archive of live images (Mt. Fuji area)

Biodiversity Center of Japan
http://www.biodic.go.jp