Maintenance of Forest/
Water Resources and Biodiversity
The Tobu Group is working to conserve forest and water resources and maintain biodiversity, in order to achieve sustainable growth in communities along the railway lines. With regard to the conservation of forest and water resources, the Tobu Group engages in appropriate forest conservation activities to maximize the many functions of the Group’s forests, including afforestation, cultivation of water resources, disaster prevention, and conservation of biodiversity, as well as the absorption of CO2. Specifically, we engage in thinning, weeding, etc., and also endeavor to promote understanding of forest conservation efforts, including holding seminars on the maintenance of traditional Japanese rural satoyama landscapes for elementary school students in coordination with local governments in communities along railway lines. In addition, the amount of CO2 absorbed by forests through proper management is widely distributed in the market as credits certified by the national government, thereby contributing to and being utilized for measures against global warming. With regard to the maintenance of biodiversity, the Tobu Group believes that various values created through the symbiosis and co-creation of diverse organisms are essential for the sustainable development of communities along railway lines, and we are implementing various initiatives to support this. Specifically, in addition to nurturing the natural habitat of fireflies in Nikko, we endeavor to promote understanding of the importance of biodiversity, etc., by introducing various animals at Tobu Zoo, while also working to preserve species by breeding animals at the zoo.
Use of thinned wood from company-owned forests
Tobu Railway uses thinned wood from the management of company-owned forests for benches and interior decoration at some stations when renovating station buildings.
Official Partnership with National Park
In March 2017, Tobu Railway and TOBU TOP TOURS signed a National Park Official Partnership with the Ministry of the Environment.
This is a partnership program in which the Ministry of the Environment and companies or organizations cooperate with each other to promote the beautiful scenery of Japan’s world-class national parks and the appeal of staying in national parks to the world, and to increase the number of domestic and international visitors to national parks, thereby deepening people’s understanding of conservation of the natural environment and revitalizing the regions where national parks are located.
Maintenance of Forest/Water Resources and Biodiversity
The Tobu Group is working to “conserve forest and water resources and maintain biodiversity” at the forests that we own, in order to achieve sustainable growth in communities along the railway lines.
We focus on the functions of forests, such as water source cultivation, disaster prevention through soil conservation, biodiversity conservation, and global warming prevention through the absorption of CO2. To maximize these functions, we conduct regular thinning, weeding, and other activities to appropriately conserve forests.
In addition, we actively engage in activities to broaden understanding of forest conservation by holding seminars on the maintenance of satoyama landscapes, etc., in cooperation with local governments, companies, and organizations in communities along railway lines.
In addition, the amount of CO2 absorbed by forests through proper management is widely distributed in the market as credits certified by the national government, thereby contributing to and being utilized for measures against global warming.
At “Tobu no Mori (Tobu Forest) Tochigi Central,” in cooperation with the town of Mibu in Tochigi Prefecture, etc., we are holding a seminar for experiencing satoyama landscapes for elementary school students in communities along railway lines. We are endeavoring to promote understanding of forest conservation through activities such as "moyakaki (thinning)" and "tree planting."
Appropriate forest conservation (thinning, weeding, etc.) in forests owned by the Company
Participants experiencing moyakaki (thinning)
Conservation of living species
Tobu Zoo Park (Tobu Leisure Planning) has been involved in species conservation (breeding and rearing) since it opened in 1981.
We will continue to make use of the knowledge we have accumulated in breeding and propagation to preserve the species.
Nurturing the natural habitat of fireflies
In the Kuragasaki SL flower field along the Tobu Kinugawa Line, Tobu Railway is working with Tobu Zoo to take on the challenge of releasing firefly larvae, which are rarely seen nowadays, into the environment where they once grew naturally, with the aim of nurturing fireflies naturally.
