Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. recently staged a third-phase tree planting ceremony at its consumer tire manufacturing plant in Mishima City (Shizuoka Prefecture), Japan. The event was part of the company's Yokohama Forever Forest Project.
With 121 Yokohama Rubber employees and family members attending the event, 550 seedlings were planted. In line with the concept of creating forests through hands-on, personal efforts, seedlings grown primarily by employees have been used since the second-phase plantings; for the ceremony this time, 100% self-prepared seedlings were used.
The total number of seedlings planted at the plant now stands at 16,145. In addition, the company cooperates with environmental activities of neighboring administrations -- for example, contributing seedlings grown by its employees to a forest management project of Numazu City.
The Yokohama Forever Forest Project was started in 2007 and is creating forests at domestic and overseas production sites in anticipation of the company's 100th anniversary in 2017. Under the guidance of Dr. Akira Miyawaki, professor emeritus of Yokohama National University and a plant ecologist, trees indigenous to each local area are being planted.
About 500,000 trees in all will be planted at seven domestic and 11 overseas plants run by Yokohama Group companies. To date, approximately 175,000 trees have been planted.
