The Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) held a 6-day  international workshop on “Mangrove Management and Monitoring — Long-Term Mangrove Monitoring with Climate Change Risks” in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture and in Ishigaki and Iriomote Islands, Okinawa Prefecture.

The workshop was divided into two parts. The first part, held in Tsukuba City on March 4-5, featured 16 presentations by delegates from six countries (Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar). These experts specialize in a wide range of academic fields including forest ecology, marine ecology, biodiversity, phylogeography, and socio-economics. 

The second part, held in Okinawa on March 6-9, took the attendees to the islands of Ishigaki and Iriomote to observe the following: the mangrove cultivation experiments at the Tropical Agriculture Research Front, the tsunami stones and species segregation in the Miyara River mangrove forest, the mangrove disturbance caused by typhoons and subsequent recovery in the lower reaches of Nakama River, and the fishing industry and distribution of crabs around mangroves on Ishigaki Island. 

The participants shared knowledge and engaged in scientific discussions on mangrove management and monitoring throughout the workshop.