Conservation of Biodiversity

We have set conservation of biodiversity to be a priority area in the Fujitsu Group Environmental Protection Program (Stage VI) and are promoting activities aimed at conserving biodiversity based on four action plan items.

Basic Concepts

Formulating the Four Action Plan Items that Aim at Conserving Biodiversity

Only the bounty of nature makes our daily lives possible. Like the provision of food and forests, climate regulation, water purifi cation, recreation, etc. ,the functions that nature performs for mankind are incalculable. These functions are called "ecosystem services," and they depend on "biodiversity." The recent remarkable deterioration of ecosystems makes conserving biodiversity an urgent necessity to ensure sustainable ecosystem services.

Given this background, we set conserving biodiversity as one goal in the Fujitsu Group's medium-term environmental vision, Green Policy 2020, as published in July 2008. Furthermore, we set a goal of promoting specific efforts by 2020 for all of the items proposed in the leadership declaration for the Business and Biodiversity Initiative, which was signed at the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

To achieve that goal, we settled on the Fujitsu Group Biodiversity Action Principles in October 2009. In this, we introduced both (1) Pursuing the Conservation of Biodiversity and the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in Business Activities and (2) Contributing to Building a Society that Ensures the Conservation of Biodiversity and the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources as themes for future efforts and established four related action plan items in the Fujitsu Group Environmental Protection Program (Stage VI), which started in FY 2010.

Conservation of Biodiversity in Our Business Activities

Reducing the Environmental Burden Placed on Biodiversity by Our Business Activities

In the Fujitsu Group, we are trying to reduce the environmental burden that results from our business activities based on an awareness of the consequences our actions have for biodiversity.

We have prepared Group guidelines on biodiversity for all phases of a product's life cycle; namely research, design, development, procurement, production, transportation, marketing, utilization and recovery.

The guidelines outline the specific measures we must take for each of these phases and all our employees can refer to them to understand precisely how their work relates to biodiversity and what they need to do to reduce their environmental impact.

In addition, since fiscal 2009 we have added biodiversity to our list of items evaluated in our Suppliers' Performance Review (SPR), while from June 2010 we formulated and distributed our Suppliers' Guidelines for Conserving Biodiversity to further advance and support suppliers' efforts in this area. Through all of these measures, at every stage of our supply chain we are succeeding in reducing any adverse effects our activities, or those of our suppliers, might have on biodiversity.

Quantitative Evaluation to Reduce the Impact on Biodiversity of Our Business Activities

To conserve biodiversity, it is important to evaluate the quantitative impact of business activities on biodiversity and to promote activities that reduce that impact with targets set appropriately.

Accordingly, we first analyzed how our business activities affected biodiversity and ecosystem services. From this, we understand that our infl uence on ecosystems mainly depends on the use of water and forest resources. We also understand that there were possibilities of impact on biodiversity through (1) use of mineral resources and energy resources, (2) waste processing, (3) land development and reform caused by its use as business sites, (4) contamination due to emissions of chemical substances into the air and water, and (5) climate change due to emissions of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere.

To reduce such impacts, in FY 2010 we constructed the Fujitsu Group Biodiversity (BD) Integration Index as a means of quantitatively evaluating the influences of business activities on biodiversity. In this framework, we identify business activities that impact biodiversity and extract impacting elements as quantitative data related to this business activity. Next, we use existing methods to evaluate these impacting elements so as to weight and integrate them, and it can therefore ultimately provide an index of the loss of ecosystems caused by business activities or of ecosystem value.

In the Fujitsu Group Environmental Protection Program (Stage VI), we have set a target of reducing the impact of our main business areas on biodiversity, as evaluated by the BD Integration Index, by 3% by the end of FY 2012 compared to FY 2009. We are currently evaluating and analyzing impact trends in FY 2010. (The impact caused by the use and emissions of chemical substances is increasing, the impact caused by waste emissions is decreasing.)In FY 2011, we will strengthen our activities that reduce the impact on biodiversity while aiming to achieve a 1.5% reduction compared to FY 2009, the reference year.

ICT and Biodiversity

Contributing to the Conservation of Biodiversity Using ICT

The effective use of ICT will make it possible to perform operations such as the collection and analysis/evaluation of information about living things and ecosystems, the monitoring of living things and of their habitat, and the management of information on them efficiently.

As an example of this application of ICT to biodiversity conservation, we implemented a countrywide survey of dandelion distribution using the camera function in mobile phones.

Fujitsu's ICT is also useful in forest management and conservation. With the number of forests in Japan that are deteriorating due to the inability to perform forestry care, it would make easier to share information and implement functions such as forest registry management, work plan management, and operations performance management by connecting the forest worksites with the offices using an information network.

Furthermore, we are working on vegetation surveys using "hyperspectral imaging analysis technology," currently under development. This technology measures the spectrum of refl ections from the ground in a helicopter or other aircraft and analyzes the distribution of vegetation over wide areas of land. By using this technology, we can, for example, survey the extent to which alien species have penetrated existing species' habitats or grasp the distribution of cedars and Japanese cypresses. We believe that this technology will significantly reduce the effort required to survey vegetation distribution, which was previously observed visually.

In the future, we will continue to use our technological abilities and know-how to contribute to avoiding or reducing the loss of biodiversity as well as maintaining and expanding biodiversity through the use of ICT.

Contributing to Spreading these Efforts Throughout Society

Participating in External Organizations

We participate in external organizations such as the Business and Biodiversity Initiative (B&B) and the Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity (JBIB) and contribute to the spread of biodiversity conservation efforts throughout society.

At the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), B&B inaugurated the event with the signing, by more than 40 companies from around the world, of the "leadership declaration." By publishing their best practices, these companies promote the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use. Fujitsu published the results of those efforts at a side event to CBD COP 10.

JBIB is a group in which over 30 Japanese companies from a wide range of businesses participate. Its purpose is to deploy activities that contribute to conserving biodiversity by aiming for dialogue between stakeholders and other companies based on the results of joint research. Fujitsu is involved with research activities and tool development for this effort.

Activities on a Global Scale

Promoting Tropical Rainforest Restoration Activities in Malaysia

To contribute to biodiversity conservation from a global perspective, we have implemented tree planting activities in Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Currently, at the Fujitsu Group Malaysia Eco Forest Park, we continuously call for volunteers to assure that the saplings planted grow into a tropical rainforest and we also perform supplementary plantings and maintenance.

Since FY 2010, we have implemented eco tours to study biodiversity while observing the actual condition of the rainforest, making the park not just a place for tropical rainforest restoration activities, but also a place for education. In FY 2010, 30 Fujitsu Group employees and family members and 19 employees of local Fujitsu Group companies, experienced forest planting and forest maintenance and also took study tours of primary forests and mangrove forests.

Promoting Biodiversity Regeneration and Conservation through Social Contribution Activities

One example of the Group's contribution to conserving biodiversity is our participation in the Yamanashi Enterprise Farm-Building Initiative, promoted by Yamanashi Prefecture. Our employees volunteer to work on a grape farm until after the harvest, the objective being not only for them to enjoy the experience of working on a farm but also to deepen their understanding of how the proper management of agricultural land can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity.

Part of the farm of the Yumekyo Grape Farm Ltd., a grape farm in Koshu City, was named "Fujitsu GP2020^*1 Wine Farm" and the activity started in March 2010.
In the first activity (March 2010), thirty-eight employees participated in cleaning the vineyard and wiring the vines to their branches. In the second activity (June 2010), twenty-six employees participated in covering grapes with paper bags. In the third activity (September 2010), forty-three employees participated in harvesting grapes. Through these activities, the grapes grown with the involvement of numerous Fujitsu employees were brewed at the farm and made into 300 bottles of "Fujitsu GP2020 Wine" in March 2011.

*1 Abbreviation of "Green Policy 2020," the Fujitsu Group's medium-term environmental vision