Director of The REDD-plus and Forest-DRR Research and Development Center
Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute
Dr. Hideki Saito
My name is Hideki Saito, and I have assumed the position of Director of the Center in April 2025.
The Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, National Research and Development Agency, established the REDD Research and Development Center in 2010 and has been engaged in analyzing the latest trends in REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries), developing scientific assessment methods, and supporting the establishment of implementation systems in developing countries. Following this, as extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall and massive typhoons have been reported on a global scale, the center established the “REDD-plus and Forest-DRR Research and Development Center” on September 1, 2020, to strengthen its functions and address the escalation and increased frequency of mountain disasters caused by extreme weather, as well as the worsening of storm surge damage in coastal areas.
The Center is working on two important themes: REDD-plus, which is an urgent global issue, and forest-based disaster risk reduction against natural disasters, which are becoming more frequent and severe. Forests play a role in mitigating global warming, preserving biodiversity, and serving as a foundation for people's livelihoods, and their sustainable management and conservation is a common goal of the international community as a whole.
To date, the Center has accumulated valuable research results in collaboration with many researchers, experts, and related organizations in Japan and abroad. Building on this excellent foundation, as the Director of the Center, I would like to focus on the following points to further promote our research activities.
- Deepening REDD-plus research and contributing to its implementation
- Strengthening overseas forest disaster prevention research and promoting international cooperation
- Strengthening interdisciplinary and international collaboration
- Training the next generation of researchers and engineers
We will do our best to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society and the resolution of global issues, although our efforts are limited.
We sincerely appreciate your continued understanding and support.