NTT Corporation, Biome Inc., NTT Com, NTT COMWARE, NTT DATA and NTT DOCOMO have announced they have jointly begun developing technology enabling the large-scale estimation of vegetation and biological organisms through remote sensing. By combining NTT Group's assets, including satellite image data analysis technology, with Biome's real-time “BiomeDB” database of organisms, one of the largest in Japan with over 8.5 million entries, they aim to establish comprehensive and continuous methods for collecting and analyzing data related to vegetation and organisms. This initiative will support biodiversity monitoring and contribute to achieving a nature-positive society.
1. Background
Of the total value added within the global economy, some USD 44 trillion (almost half of global GDP), depends on natural capital such as forests and soil. However, the degradation of biodiversity, which supports this natural capital, is progressing at an unprecedented rate. Against this backdrop, interest in biodiversity conservation and the nature-positive sector has been rising globally, especially following the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2022.
In Japan, the government has formulated its Nature Positive Economy Transition Strategy, and there is an expectation for diverse stakeholders, including businesses, government, and citizens, to work towards realizing a nature-positive economy. To achieve this, companies need to understand and assess the current state of natural capital and engage in continuous monitoring and conservation activities based on international demands from bodies such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). However, relying solely on open data for understanding and monitoring can sometimes be insufficient in terms of update frequency and accuracy, necessitating the continuation of resource-intensive on-site surveys. To address these challenges, the six companies behind this initiative are initiating a demonstration project.
2. Project outline
a. Activities - In addition to utilizing satellite image data, biological data held by Biome and actual field data, such as vegetation and biological data owned by local governments, the project will estimate the vegetation, species composition, and distribution in specific regions based on high-frequency, broad coverage across Japan, with a granularity aligned with international frameworks and standards.
b. Field demonstrations - At “Docomo Sennan Horigo no Mori” forest in Sennan City, Osaka managed by NTT Docomo starting in January 2025Objective: To verify the feasibility of using satellites to track the condition of forests and surrounding ecosystems.
Through this demonstration, NTT Docomo will explore new methods of visualizing biodiversity and conducting long-term monitoring to promote the conservation of the forest, which has been certified as a “Nature Coexistence Site” by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan. Additionally, they will evaluate the potential for utilizing these methods for future monitoring around Docomo's base stations.
At the Asahi Forest in Shobara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, managed by Asahi Group Japan starting in April 2025. Objective: To verify large-scale estimation technology and establish business use cases. Through this demonstration, Asahi Group Japan will conduct verification to explore new methods for the sustainable visualization of biodiversity and long-term monitoring of the forest based on Asahi Group Environmental Principles.
3. Roles of each member
NTT Corp: | Overall project management |
Biome Inc.: | Provision of ecosystem data, sharing of insights on biodiversity, and exploration of service commercialization |
NTT Com: | Implementation of field demonstrations, exploration of business use cases, and consideration of service commercialization |
NTT COMWARE: | Comprehensive data analysis and accuracy verification |
NTT DATA: | Provision of high-resolution satellite image data (AW3D)*13 |
NTT DOCOMO: | Provision of field sites and verification of business use cases |
4. Future development
Going forward, the participating companies will explore specific business use cases such as formulating “landscape strategies” for local governments, supporting companies in transitioning to nature-positive management, and assisting in data collection for the preparation of companies' integrated reports. Additionally, they will conduct discussions with a wide range of local governments and companies with the aim of developing a high-coverage, high-accuracy biodiversity platform that can help support their biodiversity strategy development and quantitative evaluation of natural capital.
In conjunction with the commencement of this development, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, an NTT Group corporate venture capital firm, has invested in Biome through a fund it manages. With this investment, the collaboration between Biome and NTT Group will be strengthened, creating new value through the exploration of nature-positive business opportunities and collaborative research.
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