<Keynote Speech> What we have studied and what should be studied in the future on tropical rain forests in Sarawak

Abstract

The collaboration between the scientists of Sarawak and Japan started officially in 1992, and has been continued for more than 20 years until now. At the beginning phase, rather basic subjects were our target to be studied. The description and inventory of organisms of tropical rainforests, which are essential information for both biological or ecological and more applied sciences, were the first interests of our study. Next, global issues, such as decreases of tropical forests, and their regeneration or restoration, came after that. The ecology of general flowering, and our large permanent plot study followed this context. Then, sustainable forest management, including biodiversity issues, came to be the major issue in our study after the 2000s. Many facilities have been installed in Lambir hills National Park to enhance research capacity there. A laboratory, permanent plots, and a canopy walkway were installed in the initial phase, and a canopy crane, a hostel and instruments for assessing forest carbon budget were added in the beginning of the 2000s. These facilities accelerated research activities, leading to the publication of more than 250 scientific papers. And now, Lambir Hills National Park is one of the representative research centers of tropical forests of the world. The activities have been expanded beyond Lambir National Park to compare the results with those from other forests or forest types to gain more general perspectives, and to detect findings on interactions between forests and human beings in regional or global contexts. These new aspects of our collaboration are meant to meet needs of research on sustainable use of tropical forest ecosystems in general. Recently, large efforts of ecosystem studies are being dedicated to sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services. IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), which was established in 2012 and aims to give relevant scientific information and advice for CBD (Convention of Biological Diversity), started its global assessment. Also, a new 'trans-disciplinary' research framework named "Future Earth" was launched to give scientific answers mainly for SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Future Earth includes not only inter-disciplinary studies, but also involvement of stakeholders in the planning stage of research. While we celebrate our collaboration success in past years, it may also now be the time to discuss our new framework for future studies, considering these new scientific trends.