Environmental Conservation

ITOCHU conducts various environmental conservation initiatives in collaboration with local governments, NGOs, and educational institutions.

Mangrove Planting with Uken Village of Amami Oshima Island

Through mangrove plantations, the project aims to contribute to the biodiversity conservation and to generate blue carbon credits in the future.

Collaborative Research for Rare Freshwater Fish with Shiga Prefecture and Lake Biwa Museum

We started collaborative research to protect and contribute to a recovery in endangered species of fish in the Lake Biwa and Yodogawa River water systems.

Reducing Food Loss through the Donation of Processed Chicken Products

We are working to reduce food loss by donating excess inventory instead of throwing it away.

Hunting World’s Wildlife Conservation

Hunting World provides a portion of the proceeds from their charity goods to the Borneo Conservation Trust.

Protecting Green Turtles, an Endangered Species

We support green turtle conservation activities on Chichijima Island in the Ogasawara Islands.

Support of Amazon Ecosystem Conservation Program

We supported the “Field Museum Initiative” in the tropical Amazon forests promoted by the Kyoto University Wildlife Research Center and the National Amazon Institute in Brazil.

Tropical Rainforest Restoration and Ecosystem Conservation in Borneo

As a social contribution project to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the company’s founding, reforestation activities were carried out for about seven years in cooperation with WWF, and employees planted trees.

Support of Climate System Research at the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo

We have been supporting climate prediction research related to climate change since 1991, when the University of Tokyo’s former Climate System Research Center was established.

Mangrove Planting Project with Uken Village of Amami Oshima Island

Amami Oshima Island, a remote island located in the southernmost part of Kagoshima Prefecture, was registered as a World Natural Heritage site in July 2021 in recognition of the diversity of life that inhabits and grows there.

Since 2014, Uken village has been involved in tree-planting activities using seedlings of Kandelia obovata*1 grown by local elementary school students as an initiative to protect and nurture this irreplaceable nature with pride by the children. ITOCHU agrees with the purpose of the project and has been supporting the tree-planting activities since 2021, with a view to contributing nature positive*2 and generating blue carbon credits.

  1. Kandelia obovata is a species of plant that comprises the mangrove forests found in Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures in Japan.
  2. Nature Positive is the concept of putting nature, including biodiversity, on a recovery track.
Map of Uken Village, Amami Oshima Island
Tree planting with local elementary school students (2021)
Edateku Island (left) planting mangroves

Effects of Mangroves

Mangroves are called the “cradle of the sea,” and on Amami Oshima Island, Creatures such as mud crabs and barred mudskippers inhabit the mangrove ecosystem. Mangroves are known to absorb a large amount of CO2 per unit area as their densely growing rootlets constantly repeat a process of extending and dying, the fallen branches and leaves become peaty and accumulate, and high-density carbon is isolated in the soil. For this reason, mangrove forests are attracting attention as a climate change countermeasure and are one of the “blue carbon ecosystems*”.

* Blue carbon refers to carbon sequestered in marine ecosystems such as seaweed beds and shallow water, which was presented and named as a new option for sink measures in a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in October 2009. Marine ecosystems that sequester and store blue carbon include seagrass beds, seaweed beds, wetlands and tidal flats, and mangrove forests. (Cited from the website of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism)

Nurturing the Next Generation of Youth through Nature Experiences

Tree planting by children

Since 2021, when ITOCHU began providing support, we have also been participating in tree-planting activities for local elementary school students. We hope that the children will develop a desire to cherish nature in order to pass on a rich environment to the next generation.

ITOCHU Corporation newspaper advertisement

In June 2023, we produced a newspaper advertisement for our company with the cooperation of elementary school students in Uken Village who participated in tree planting. The ad won the Excellence Award in the Government Public, Foreign Government, Trading Company and Logistics category of the 72nd Nikkei Advertising Awards.

Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration

Commemorative photo at the industry-government-academia collaboration agreement signing ceremony

On September 17, 2023, Uken village, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (JAL), and Sophia University signed a partnership agreement to promote environmental conservation and regional development in Uken village. Sophia University and JAL launched a joint initiative in Uken Village in 2022 to build a model for achieving regional revitalization through both environment and tourism (the Amami Model), and will collaborate with mangrove planting. By utilizing their respective human and physical resources and expertise, the four parties will work to promote Uken’s goal of a zero-carbon city and the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, as well as to build a symbiotic relationship between nature and people, create new human flows, and achieve sustainable regional revitalization.

As this collaboration initiative, a mangrove planting and nature culture experience tour has been conducted. Organized by Japan Airlines, ITOCHU employees and their families and Sophia University students etc. participate in the tour. We will continue to improve this tour and contribute to the promotion of afforestation and other activities.

Group photo after planting
Planting trees

Ex-Situ Conservation

As Ex-Situ Conservation of Kandelia obovata, we have been displayed Kandelia obovata seedlings in Tsukuba Botanical Garden of National Museum of Nature and Science. Please click here for this Initiatives.

With support for mangrove plantations at its core, the project aims to generate synergies in environmental conservation, regional development, and growth of future generations.

Collaborative Conservation Project for Rare Freshwater Fish with Shiga Prefecture and Shiga Prefectural Lake Biwa Museum

Analysis in the Freshwater Fish Breeding Room in the Lake Biwa Museum

ITOCHU has been undertaking a collaborative project with Shiga Prefecture and the Shiga Prefectural Lake Biwa Museum since 2022 to conserve the endangered Ayumodoki fish, with the aim of preserving the environment in the area where ITOCHU was founded. Lake Biwa is one of only approximately 20 ancient lakes in the world, and home to more than 1,700 species of flora and fauna, including over 60 endemic species. It is also an important migratory site for waterfowl and is a registered wetland under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

The Lake Biwa Museum breeds generations of endangered rare freshwater fish such as Ayumodoki. Approximately 35 species of Japanese freshwater fish are being bred and preserved in captivity at the Conservation and Breeding Center and breeding facilities in the Aquatic Exhibition; some populations are potentially extinct in their natural habitat. Continuing to preserve these species will serve as ex-situ conservation of rare freshwater fish in Japan, and it is an important initiative in anticipation of their future return to the wild.

Reducing Food Loss through the Donation of Processed Chicken Products

We are working to reduce food loss by donating surplus inventory generated in the course of handling processed chicken products to certified NPOs that support the needy, and provide meals to those in need.

Lunch box with donated chicken
The arrangement of bento dishes

Hunting World’s Wildlife Conservation Activities

Protecting Endangered Species of the Borneo Elephant
The facility of Borneo Elephant Sanctuary

Hunting World, a luxury brand deployed by ITOCHU, has been using a logo with the motif of a young elephant without its tusks since the foundation of the brand in 1965. While serving as a symbol of freedom and revival, it also represents the challenge of looking toward the future in terms of the protection of endangered species. It contains the founder’s love and respect for nature. Hunting World has been supporting a biodiversity conservation activity being promoted by an NPO called the Borneo Conservation Trust (BCT) since 2008 to support the realization of coexistence with nature as called for by the founder. The brand plans and sells charity goods and then provides 1% of those proceeds to the BCT. This helps with the funds to purchase land for “Green Corridor Project*1” and the costs to protect Borneo elephants that have gone astray in plantations. The brand independently acquired the land in the “Green Corridor Project” zone with its assistance funds up to that point in the fall of 2011 to create the Hunting World Kyosei no Mori No.1 (Symbiotic Forest No.1 of Hunting World). Furthermore, the brand has continued support activities and has now acquired the Hunting World Kyosei no Mori No.4 (Symbiotic Forest No.4 of Hunting World). In 2019, the brand started supporting “Grateful Repayment Project*2” promoted by BCT Japan, which supports BCT. These donations have also helped with the funds to establish the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary, a facility for protecting and temporarily rearing injured Borneo elephants and to pay for food to keep Borneo elephants protected alive.

  1. Green Corridor Project: This is an activity to conserve biodiversity. The land between forest protection zones and forest reserves are purchased back. Divided forests are then connected to create a movement route for animals.
  2. Grateful Repayment Project: This is an activity to protect and temporarily raise Borneo elephants that have lost their places of life.

Project for Protecting Green Turtles, an Endangered Species

With the aim of conserving biodiversity, ITOCHU supports conservation activities for the green turtle, which is listed as an endangered species in the Ministry of the Environment Red Data Book, through the certified NPO Everlasting Nature (ELNA). ELNA was established in 1999 with the aim of conserving the marine life in Asia and the surrounding marine environment, and is an organization that has received certification as an NPO from Kanagawa Prefecture. Thanks to ELNA’s 24–hour conservation activities, the number of nesting sites of green turtles on the Ogasawara Islands is gradually increasing with repeated increases and decreases.

In addition, as the accommodation for volunteers staying in Chichijima Island for conservation activities was aging, we supported the construction of a new accommodation facility with improved living environment and convenience, and completed a unit house in May 2020.

Refer to: ELNA activity reportopen in new window (Japanese Only)

Green Turtles, an Endangered Species
(Photographed on the Ogasawara Islands)
Employees Participate in Conservation Activities
Donated a Unit House for Volunteers to Stay

Supporting Climate System Research at the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo

The Climate Symposium (Dec. 2018)

The Division of Climate System Research, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo advances research into climate systems through numerical models and the analysis of observational data, and engages in enthusiastic research with the goal of giving back to society through those findings. ITOCHU Corporation has sponsored this mission since the founding of the University of Tokyo’s former Climate System Research Center in 1991, and has continued to support its research.

  • Click hereOpen in a new window for the website of Division of Climate System Research, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo.