World map showing areas of vegetation created through projects

reduction of the residents. Through this support, Japan has contributed actively to the conservation of biodiversity in developing countries. Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the 2010 Biodiversity Target has been set to significantly reduce the biodiversity loss rate by 2010. Further efforts are being sought towards the realization of this goal. For example, the forests of the Belete-Gera Region in southwest Ethiopia with a precious ecosystem including Black Panthers and Blue Monkeys has been recently eroded by farmland development and illicit lumbering, and measures to protect it are urgently needed. Japan has been providing Ethiopia with technical cooperation, and for three years from FY2003, it assisted the organization of the forest management association by residents and the forest management by residents based on a contract with the state government. Since FY2006, Japan has been engaged in activities to apply the resident-participated forest management system to all the forests in the Belete-Gera Region. As for assistance to coffee bean cultivation as part of Japan's efforts to preserve forests and raise residents' income, coffee beans produced in the Belete-Gera Region successfully acquired Rainforest Alliance Certified for forest coffee by the Rainforest Alliance, an international NGO, in 2007. The certification allows price tags higher than those put on ordinary market products. In this way, Japan has contributed to increases in residents' income compatible with natural environment preservation.

Japan plays a leading role in the Global Mapping Project in which national cartographic institutions of each country collaborate to make the map of the earth to comprehend the current state and changes in the global environment. The map can be used for environmental monitoring as well as various forecasts on food supplies, water resources, and land uses. It can be also useful also for response to large-scale disasters. In FY2007, seminars on the use of the global map were held in Africa, as in FY2006. In addition, the Global Map Symposium took place for those concerned with education and NGOs in the fields of environmental and disaster prevention in March 2008.

## Cooperation with the International Community

The international community has been addressing environmental issues through setting up and running the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which is an international financial mechanism, and the Multilateral Fund (MLF), which was established by the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Japan utilizes these international funds and advancing active measures through international organizations like the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). $ ^{42} $ For example, in FY2007 Japan extended approximately US7.42 million in aid to 27 projects, with a view to promoting sustainable forest management in the tropical forests of Asia, Oceania, Central and South America, Africa, and other regions as well as developing the international trade in tropical wood through ITTO. Japan has been also tackling global environmental problems through the Multilateral Fund based on the Montreal Protocol. For example, it has been implementing projects aimed at eliminating the use of ozone-depleting substances in China, India, and Mongolia, which include assistance for policy formation, introduction of alternative substances and technologies, and training of technicians.

## (2) Infectious Diseases

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For the record for the infectious diseases sector FY2007, see record for the health and welfare sector (page 69).

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Infectious diseases, including the three major communicable diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria), not only pose a threat to the health of individuals in developing countries, but also act as a serious hindrance to the economic and social development of these countries. In 2007, the number of people who died from AIDS was approximately 2 million