Forest development activities by our employees

We encourage each employee to voluntarily participate in activities inside and outside the company with the awareness of being a global citizen. Consequently, many of our employees are actively engaged in such activities in various parts of the country.

“That's Kirin Saver” project: Working with local communities to conserve satoyama

●Location：Hadano City, Kanagawa, Japan
●Period：2000 – to date
●Activities：Ricoh Group employees, former employees, and local residents who love nature gather to promote satoyama conservation activities.

In October 2000, an environmental volunteer group made up of current and former Ricoh employees and local residents proposed the establishment of a regional forest conservation project to the Hadano City government and local landowners. The project, “That's Kirin Saver,” has been ongoing for the past 23 years. Forest conservation activities are organized on a monthly basis by the volunteer group and cover an area that stretches over 10,000 square meters of land surrounding Lake Shinsei, in the Shibusawa hills to the south of Hadano City. The area includes outdoor recreation spots that are popular with local fishermen, trekkers, bird-watchers and others. On each activity day, group members work together at determined locations to restore the thickly covered, heavily wooded land to conditions able to meet the different seasonal needs of diverse species, including plants, insects and birds as well as humans

“That's Kirin Saver” activities are planned in accordance with the cycle of the seasons. Major tasks conducted from spring to summer include weeding to allow the sun to reach ground-level vegetation and promote its growth and other forest maintenance work as well as creating wood chips. In autumn, flora and fauna surveys are carried out, which is followed by the late autumn activity of raking up fallen leaves. The coldest period, from late November to the end of winter, is the season for forest thinning. Some of the trees removed in the thinning process are used as logs for cultivating shiitake mushrooms, with spawn inoculation performed in February. In combination with the forest maintenance activities, several seasonal recreational events are also planned, such as tree climbing, mushroom inoculation, and rice-cake making, with the intention of facilitating local community activities.

The forest conservation project has progressed steadily over the past 23 years, creating appropriately wooded sites as well as open spaces intended for local community activities. Current efforts are focused on hillside areas leading up to the lake. Additionally, project members have begun to visit other prefectures to participate in similar activities and exchange information with the host groups. Thus, “That's Kirin Saver” initiatives are expanding to other regions of the country.

That's Kirin Saver

Forest conservation activities at Ricoh Chiba Fureai-no-Mori forest

●Location：Chiba City, Chiba, Japan
●Period：2004 – to present
●Activities： Activities to experience the blessings of nature throughout the year and to protect forests with great respect.

The “Ricoh Chiba Fureai-no-Mori” forest conservation activities started in 2004, based on Chiba Prefecture's Satoyama Ordinance, when an agreement was made with a landowner who was having trouble taking care of a cedar forest overgrown with bamboo. Since then, Ricoh's environmental volunteer group, Chiba Fureai no Mori Conservation Society, has continued its activities with three main objectives: (1) to improve the use of the forest by managing weeds, (2) to secure space and build recreational facilities, and (3) to use wood removed in the thinning process for materials for the recreational facilities. In spring, we plant potatoes while cherry blossoms are in bloom; in summer, we clear weeds, observe insects, and harvest summer vegetables; in fall, we organize forest thinning and cultivate shiitake mushrooms; and in winter, we pound rice cakes and other activities.