The Environment Ministry decided Saturday to conduct fixed-point environmental observations starting in fiscal 2003 in an effort to ascertain the impact of global warming and other factors on the environment, ministry officials said.

The ministry also plans to take conservation measures by using data obtained from the observations to help establish a national system to protect biodiversity.

The fixed-point observations will be conducted at a total of 1,000 locations to be chosen in areas such as swamps, natural forests and tidelands every year for five years to accumulate data such as the number of creatures living in each area and changes in weather conditions, they said.

The first 200 locations will be selected during the current fiscal year, which ends in March next year, and costs such as those to set up observation equipment will be incorporated in the ministry's budget request for fiscal 2003, the officials said.

Fixed cameras will be set up at certain points in an effort to detect signs of environmental deterioration from global warming, air pollution, development and other factors at an early stage, they said.

If the information gathered indicates deterioration, it will be compared with data from similar locations and be used to come up with conservation measures, according to the officials.

As well as swamps and natural forests, grasslands, rivers and coral reefs will also be among the sites selected, they said.

The selection of sites for fixed-point observations is also incorporated in a new national strategy for biodiversity the Cabinet endorsed in March this year.