Toyota Shirakawa-Go Eco-Institute Opened

Toyota Motor Corp. opened the new Toyota Shirakawa-Go Eco-Institute, located on company land in Shirakawa Village, Gifu Prefecture, on April 2, 2005. Designed to facilitate hands-on interaction with forests, the company planned this project to provide nature-based environmental education mainly to children, who will play an important role in promoting sustainable development in future.

The company has been working since October 2001 with environmental non-profit organizations (NPOs) and Shirakawa Village to prepare attractive, experience-based programs based on three main concepts: Nature, Traditional Culture and Environmental Technology. The new Institute offers an opportunity to get in touch with nature to children and tourists visiting Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its traditional Gassho style houses and rich natural environment at the foot of Mt. Hakusan.

Occupying an area of about 172 hectares, the Institute has facilities for workshops and accommodation, as well as an event hall where environmental NPOs from both Japan and other countries can get together to network and to hold events. Another mission is to protect local endangered fauna and flora, such as the Luehdorfia butterfly and the Japanese mountain peony.

Serving as head of the Insitute is Tadashi Inamoto, a managing director of the Japan Environmental Education Forum and the president of the Oak Village Corp. Management is carried out by the Forum for Environmental Symbiosis in Shirakawa-go, an NPO chaired by a senior managing director of Toyota, Hiroyuki Watanabe.



Posted: 2005/07/12 06:38:32 AM
Japanese version