Research undertaken as part of the Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) Principal Investigator (PI) and Kyoto and Carbon (K&C) program has focused on the regional characterization (growth stage as a function of biomass and structure) and mapping of forests across northern Australia and mangroves (including wetlands) in selected tropical regions (northern Australia, Belize, French Guiana and Brazil) using Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array L-band SAR (PALSAR) data, either singularly or in conjunction with other remote sensing (e.g., optical) data. Comparison against existing baseline datasets has the use of these data for detecting change in these tropical and subtropical regions. Regional products (e.g., forest growth stage, mangrove/wetland extent and change) generated from the K&C dual polarimetric strip data are anticipated to benefit conservation of these ecosystems and allow better assessments of carbon stocks and changes in these as a function of natural and anthropogenic drivers, thereby supporting key international conventions.