National recognition for YKK’s forest project
Zipper technology developer YKK has received recognition from Japan’s ministry for the environment for conservation efforts at its headquarters in Toyama Prefecture.
Its manufacturing facility at Kurobe has won recognition from the ministry as a ‘Nature Coexistence Site’, thanks to the company’s tree-planting programme there. YKK has said its aim is to create “a factory in a forest”; it has committed to planting 20,000 trees of 20 native species on the site by 2034. No non-native species are permitted.
The forest at the site is already open for use as a public park and for educational visits.
Japan’s ‘Nature Coexistence Site’ programme is a new initiative that the ministry for the environment launched this year. In the first six months of 2023, it recognised 122 sites across the country and arranged a ceremony in Tokyo at the end of October to celebrate the success of the companies and local communities involved.
YKK’s forest project was one of only two from the Toyama Prefecture to win inclusion.
