The member's nature conservation activity - Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.

Keidanren Nature Conservaition Fund / Keidanren Committee on Nature Conservation

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.

The member's nature conservation activity
Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.

1. Nature conservation (Environment) Measure posture to activity

Since bringing the Nippon Paper Industries' Charter on the Environment into effect in 1993, we have continued to work on sustainable corporate activities in harmony with nature. The paper industry is the recycling-oriented industry in which it is possible to reuse the main resources, namely trees and wastepaper. To promote environmental conservation on a global scale, we fully revised our Charter on the Environment in August 2003 to incorporate targets such as cutting greenhouse gasses by 15% and to reflect a heightened awareness of the need to reduce environmental impact.

  • Basic Philosophy

  • Basic Policies

    • We have also set out specific targets as part of our Action Guidelines.

    2. Cooperation with NGO

  • Shirane-aoi Preservation Group

    • Shirane-aoi is a perennial plant that grows wild in the mountainous areas extending north from central Honshu and in Hokkaido. Having been eaten in large quantities by the local deer population, it has now been designated a semi-endangered species. The Shirane-aoi Preservation Group was set up in December 2000 in cooperation with Gunma Prefecture Oze High School and the residents of Katashina Village in Tone-gun in order to save the Shirane-aoi from extinction. We support the activities of the Shirane-aoi Preservation Group and Nippon Paper Group's employees have volunteered to take part in its activities including plantation every year.

  • In cooperation with the Japan Philanthropic Association, we organized a program for introducing volunteers, called BORAMADO, for the first time in February 2005.

    • 3. Environmental education and volunteer training (employee)

  • Nippon Paper Industries' employees participate in volunteer activities to protect the semi-endangered mountain plant Shirane-aoi, organized by the Shirane-aoi Preservation Group in our own Sugenuma Forest (Tone-gun, Gunma Prefecture, approx. 4,900 hectares) on the western slopes of Mt. Nikko Shirane. In June each year, we plant Shirane-aoi seedlings in the area around Midaga-ike Pond. We also engage in other related environmental conservation activities such as picking up litter from the mountain trails along the way.
  • We actively engage in cleanup activities in the areas around all of our mills throughout the year in an attempt to raise awareness of environmental conservation and the need to keep the environment beautiful. We also play an active part in local community cleanup and landscaping activities.
  • We organized an introductory program for working volunteers, called BORAMADO, for the first time in February 2005 in cooperation with the Japan Philanthropic Association with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of employee participation in volunteer activities.

    • 4. Environmental education (exterior)

  • We set up the Recycle Plaza Shiyukan as a parallel venture at our Asahikawa Mill, on the site where the mill's clinic used to stand. In addition to exhibits explaining methods of recycling wastepaper and the paper production process, permanent features at the Shiyukan include corners where visitors can recycle milk cartons into handmade postcards and bring in their wastepaper for recycling. Since it opened in 1999, roughly 30,000 people have visited the Shiyukan, which has come to be highly regarded within the community as a field trip destination where people can enjoy learning about the importance of recycling.
  • Inside our Ishinomaki Mill, we have a permanent exhibition room called the Paper Plaza, "Kami no Hiroba," which is open to the public. Visitors can learn about issues such as consideration for the environment as part of the paper production process and the importance of recycling through easy to understand exhibits.
  • We offer tours of each of our mills for local elementary and junior high school students and other visitors all year round. Members of staff provide simple explanations as visitors get to see paper making equipment first hand, giving them an opportunity to learn more about both the paper production process and efforts to conserve the environment.
  • In response to requests from schools and other outside organizations, we organize classes during social studies (general studies) periods. Classes are taught by company employees as a way of giving children the opportunity to think about creating a sustainable society through paper. We supported the Living Together with Nature schools program, "Zuttotikyutoikiru Gakko Project," organized by the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan and the Yomiuri Shimbun on June 21 and July 12, 2005. As part of this program, Nippon Paper Industries' employees taught classes on creating a sustainable society through paper to fifth year students of Gohongi Elementary School in Tokyo's Meguro-ku.

    • 5. Practical use and preservation of the company-owned ground etc.

  • In support of Shirane-aoi Preservation Group, we offer the usage of our own Sugenuma Forest (Tone-gun, Gunma Prefecture, approx. 4,900 hectares) for the plantation of Shirane-aoi seedlings.
  • Roughly half of our Sugenuma Forest (Tone-gun, Gunma Prefecture, approx. 4,900 hectares) lies within Nikko National Park. In addition to maintaining mountain trails on Mt. Nikko Shirane, we have also positioned a series of 13 "Forest Smarts" signboards along the nature walk (one circuit: approx. 1.7km) starting from Mt. Nikko Shirane Station at the top of the cableway to give hikers the opportunity learn facts about the forest as they walk through the natural surroundings. Similarly, in our own Hoou Forest (Nirasaki, Yamanashi Prefecture, approx. 1,450 hectares), which spans Minami Alps National Park and Prefectural Minami Alps Koma Natural Park, we maintain mountain trails and provide land for mountain cabins and other facilities.
  • We provide access to our own Kitayama Forest (Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, approx. 670 hectares), situated at the foot of Mt. Fuji, to the Institute of Traditional Japanese Architecture (Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, President: Masuo Watanabe), run by Frgaku Gakuen, as a source of learning materials. Its aim is to train architectural technicians, equipping them with the skills to continue traditional Japanese building techniques. As part of its "Studies on Forestry Resources" course, students learn about forestry production through practical experience, covering the entire process from sound forest management to lumber production.

    • 6. Forest management, afforestation, sylviculture etc.

  • One of the basic policies in the Nippon Paper Industries' Charter on the Environment is to "create and conserve forest resources." Similarly, our Action Guidelines include a commitment to "move forward with Tree Farm Initiative afforestation activities in overseas countries to create sustainable sources of hardwood chips." As one of the targets of the Tree Farm Initiative, we are working to plant over 100,000 hectares of forest. As of the end of 2004, approximately 82,000 hectares had already been planted in Chile, Australia and South Africa.
  • In July 2005, we started work on the development of "RITE Forests" in western Australia in cooperation with the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE, Chairman: Takashi Imai) and the Osaka University Graduate School of Science (President: Shinichi Kotani). This is part of a major project for carbon dioxide fixation being run the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which is aimed at developing technologies that will ensure increased carbon dioxide absorption, a matter of concern for the global environment, as well as sustainable corporate activities.
  • We intend to obtain forest certification for all company-owned forests both in Japan and overseas by 2008. In March 2005, we completed the process of obtaining ISO14001 certification for environmental management systems for our overseas forests. We are also currently working to obtain the forest certifications considered most appropriate in each individual country, including FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification for our forests in South Africa and AFS (Australian Forestry Standard) certification for part of our forests in Australia. Elsewhere, we will complete the process of obtaining SGEC (Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council) forest certification, a system unique to Japan, for our domestic company-owned forests by the end of fiscal 2005. We are also working hard on the distribution of wooden products bearing the SGCE label in an effort to promote sustainable forest management.
  • Nippon Paper Industries owns forests in Japan covering a total area of approximately 90,000 hectares. We strive to nurture diverse, healthy forests through sustainable forest management and, in the areas designated as "environmental forests" that occupy roughly 20% of all of our forests, we are making every effort to give full rein to the multitude of functions that forests fulfill, not least in terms of environmental conservation.

    • 7. Others