Activity report
Protection and restoration of
the green earth
Turn devastated land
where no weeds grow
into forests again
Background of the challenge
The land devastated
due to the long-time
mining operations
Toyota Boshoku Corporation acquired around 400,000m2 of land in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, in 2011 in order to establish our second R&D site. We then started the construction project for the Tajimi Technical Center that would include a test course. The major challenge of the project was the greening of the devastated land. The land we acquired, which had been used for mining, was so desolate that even weeds would not grow. When a strong wind blew, the sand was blown about, and during rainy weather, the soil became muddy and ran off onto the road. The neighbors had significant problems with that. Therefore, our company began the greening project to return this land to its natural state prior to the mining operations as the responsibility of the company that owns the land.
Our idea
Using civil
engineering techniques
to tackle slopes ravaged
by wind and rain
At first, we thought that it would be easy to grow plants if the soil were improved by fertilizer. Therefore, we planted grass seeds in three types of the soil improved under different conditions and found that the seeds did not sprout in any of those types. We then planted conifer saplings but all the saplings died within about three months, so we had to determine that growing plants would be extremely difficult there. The major reason was not only the poor nutrition of the soil but also the fact that the rain washed the soil away together with fertilizer and seeds no matter how they were sown. We consulted the municipal government and received advice from an experienced greening contractor for public works projects in Gifu to try a woodchip mulching method that was suitable for surface greening.
Activity Report
Taking steady steps
toward reforestation
with the return of
plants and
living things
When grass seeds were planted in the layer of woodchips secured by the mulching material, they sprouted around a year later and successfully greened the entire slope. We mowed the grown grass for compost, which further improved the surface soil. The plants there grew to form habitats for many kinds of insects and attracted wild birds and boars, which significantly advanced the improvement of the natural environment. Currently, we plan to plant azaleas, which symbolize Tajimi City, in the greatly improved area of the land. We will continue to try not only to green the surface soil but also to meet the challenge of foresting the land with conifers for the future.
Challenger
Tajimi Technical
Center
Facility
Management Team
Since this was the first large-scale greening project for our company, there was no one with any expertise in the field at the time of starting the project. We thought that we would be able to achieve it easily; in fact, the many days of improving the soil and planting saplings only resulted in having them die, which caused our shoulders to drop in disappointment. However, the continued effort finally bore fruit, and the land was gradually covered in green. Currently, lots of weeds are actively growing. While we are pleased with the successful composting of the surface soil, we have to mow the weeds more frequently because the activities on the premises may be affected if the weeds remain uncut, which means we have somewhat mixed feelings.