Japanese carmaker Toyota is keen to prove that its commitment to all things green goes beyond simply reducing the emissions from its automobiles – after signing a new agreement for a forestation project inChina.
Toyota Motor China Investment Company held a signing ceremony last week to announce its plans to carry out the Toyota Green Greater Beijing Economic Zone Fengning Afforestation Project. It will be carried out over three years in collaboration with the Fengning Manchu Autonomous County Forestry Bureau and the Hebei Province Forestry Bureau.
The idea behind the project is to plant trees over a 150hectare area in the Nanshakouzi region in the northern part of the Hebei Province. This will reduce the area of desertification to the same level as Xiaobazi Township.
The area is actually a major water source for Beijing and Tianjin but has suffered in recent years from severe desertification that in turn has caused sandstorms in the two cities. It is also hoped that the project will help establish economic independence for the residents in the area.
It’s not the first time that Toyota has been involved in a forestation project. It carried out the Sino-Japanese 21st Century GreaterBeijing Reforestation Model project in Xiaobazi over 10 years starting in 2001 with some 3.9million trees planted across 3,000hectares.
