Tropical Rainforest Regeneration Activities

Restoration of Rainforests in Borneo

Tropical rainforests are home to various animals and plants. However, in past decades, the area of tropical rainforests has been diminishing, and it is reported that 8 million ha of rainforests have vanished from the Earth each year since 2000.

Since 2002, the Fujitsu Group has been conducting a tropical rainforest regeneration project at the Fujitsu Group Malaysia Eco-Forest Park located at Sabah, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo, in cooperation with the Sabah Forestry Development Authority (SAFODA). .

Overview

Eco-Forest Park was a tropical rainforest in the past. In the 1970s, all the trees in the area were cut down to respond to the demand for lumber. Sabah government policy led to the Acacia mangium, native to Australia, being planted in this land. Acacia mangium is fast-growing and valuable as lumber. Therefore the forest became a heavy forest of Acacia mangium, which have grown to about 20 meters. Sabah Forest Development Authority (SAFODA) and Fujitsu Group are working together to transform the forest of Acacia mangium, a species alien to the island of Borneo, into the original tropical rainforest, filled with native trees such as trees in the family of Dipterocarpaceae.

Up to 37,500 Dipterocarp saplings, which are native to the island of Borneo, have been planted in about 150-ha area of land to date. More than 2,000 people have participated in the project in total, including Fujitsu employees and their family members, and people from local stakeholders. Since 2007, the project has been in the nurturing and maintenance phase, and we have been taking care of the seedlings.

In Dec. 2016, the Fujitsu Group's many years of Tropical Rainforest Regeneration Activities bore fruit with the certification of the Fujitsu Group Malaysia Eco-Forest Park as a Forest Reserve by the state legislative assembly of Sabah.

• Press Release: Fujitsu Group Malaysia Eco-Forest Park Certified as a Forest Reserve by Sabah, Malaysia

Eco Tour for worldwide Fujitsu Group employee

The tour aims to contribute to the regeneration of rainforest in Fujitsu Group's Malaysia Eco-Forest Park, and participants could experience tree planting and visiting primeval tropical rainforest, as well as interaction with local stakeholders, to think and deeply understand importance of tropical forests.

Eco-Forest Park is the field where the Fujitsu Group conducts its long-term project for tropical rainforest regeneration. Understanding the essentials of the problems is vitally important for understanding the significance of tropical rainforest regeneration, and the Eco Tour is an excellent opportunity for this. Issues in distant countries are looked at as our own issues, and actions taken against the issues are performed in our daily life. Fujitsu desires to increase the number of employees who think about things in this way, as we believe this is the way for us to become a company that truly contributes to the environment and society.

Maintenance activities

Replanting

Climate condition and other factors influence to saplings growth. Aiming to increase the survival rate, we plant new Dipterocarpaceae seedlings where trees have died.

Two investigations: "Tree height measurement" and "Wildlife habitat investigation"

In order to check the level of growth of saplings, a growth state investigation is conducted by measuring the height and girth of trees planted in 2005. Some trees have grown higher than 10m in the more than 10 years since being planted. Additionally, participants separate into 4 groups and check the wildlife habitat. The number of animals

Holding an idea workshop in collaboration with local university

Participants, 60 from Fujitsu Group and 30 from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, join idea workshop to discuss what ICT could do to bring back a rich nature. Interesting proposal is drafted, for example “virtual eco tour” to expand awareness toward environmental issues to large number of people.

Comment by Participants

"The reality of environmental destruction taking place on the island of Borneo, a treasure house of biodiversity. We realized the beauty of the natural environment and problems taking place there, by actually seeing there with our own eyes."