TOKYO (Dec. 21, 2010)—As part of Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.'s Yokohama Forever Forest Project, the company's Yokohama Tire Vietnam Inc. subsidiary held a first-phase tree-planting ceremony Dec. 11.
The event drew 230 participants, including plant employees and their families, representatives from the Tokyo-based tire maker's administration, the management board of the industrial park where the subsidiary is located, and local elementary and high-school students.
They planted about 1,600 seedlings following a lecture by Akira Miyawaki, professor emeritus of Yokohama National University and a plant ecologist.
The goal of Yokohama's forest project, begun in 2007, is to create forests through hands-on, personal efforts of the company's employees, who have been growing seedlings and improving the soil at the tire maker's tire production facilities. Under the guidance of Miyawaki, trees indigenous to each local area are being planted. Yokohama said about 500,000 trees will be planted at seven Japanese and 11 overseas plants.
Overall, about 183,000 trees—36.7 percent of Yokohama's goal—have already been planted.