Trends in landslide researches and prevention works by the Japan International Cooperation Agency

Abstract

  Landslides constitute a common disaster across the world, including in Japan. Developing countries tend to suffer from severe damage owing to large-scale disasters, mainly due to the lack of appropriate research knowledge that can facilitate appropriate prior counter-measures. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has implemented wide-ranging technical cooperation and financed structural measures for landslide prevention through grants and loans as well as technical cooperation. We have compiled a list of projects for sediment disaster prevention and protection under JICA to identify the chronological trends. The list indicates that the projects on sediment disaster prevention and protection were inaugurated in 1975, while most projects mainly focused on volcanic disaster management. Since 2000, the number of landslide research and prevention projects have increased. Further, it has become obvious that the landslide research and prevention works tend to be actively conducted in Asian countries as well as in Central American and African countries. To further reduce the risk of landslide disasters, JICA's knowledge and experiences that utilize Japanese know-hows and lessons for landslide management are essential for developing countries.