Bangalore, 5th July 2024: Towards its commitment to environmental sustainability, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) further accelerates the ‘Green Wave Project’ commemorating this year’s environment month. Aimed at enhancing its nature conservation activity in the community, TKM distributed saplings to its employees, under its sixth challenge namely ‘Establishing a Future Society in Harmony with Nature’, contributing towards the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050. This eco campaign continues to drive active community involvement to promote greenery, through employee engagement.
The company has successfully distributed 7000+ saplings to its employees, marking significant progress towards its 8,000-sapling target set under its plantation activity. In this direction, TKM employees are encouraged to plant and nurture the distributed saplings within their neighbourhoods and submit periodic reports on plant growth. They have been enthusiastically involving their local communities in afforestation activities, fostering a collective effort to create a greener environment.
Towards this, it is noteworthy to mention about Toyota’s tree plantation activities that are strongly driven by adopting a unique concept namely the ‘Miyawaki Method of Afforestation’ since 2009, and TKM was the first corporate in India to implement such plantation methodology. TKM’s steadfast commitment to sustainability and ecological restoration is yielding remarkable results, as evidenced by the numerous advantages of the Miyawaki approach. A comprehensive study conducted in collaboration with experts from Bangalore University revealed that the Miyawaki method excels in carbon sequestration, capturing an impressive 30.86 tons of carbon per acre.
By doing so, TKM not only restored native habitats but also created self-sustaining ecosystem that contribute to a healthier planet. Under the guidance of Late. Dr. Akira Miyawaki himself, TKM initiated its maiden Miyawaki plantation drive, way back in 2009, marking a significant milestone in its journey towards conservation of greenery and eco-consciousness. Since that momentous day, TKM’s plantation drives have continued to evolve and expanded to 112 acres of green cover within the factory premises, out of which 32 acres of afforestation has been developed using Miyawaki method. Today, Toyota’s manufacturing facility, located in Bidadi, proudly boasts more than 328,000 trees of over 790 native species planted within its premises. The results have been truly awe-inspiring, with a remarkable increase in biodiversity observed over the years. From a mere 181 plant species, the count has surged to an impressive 790, while the number of faunal species has risen from 76 to 284. The vibrant ecosystem now encompasses 88 bird varieties, 38 butterfly species, 107 insects, 17 reptiles, 8 mammals, and 6 amphibians, reflecting the successful development of a thriving native forest ecosystem.
In addition, TKM has created an experiential environmental learning centre ‘Ecozone’ (spread across 25 acres with 17 theme parks and home to 65,000 trees with 650 native species) for children, teachers, community members and other stakeholders, within its manufacturing facility aimed at creating the environment leaders and change champions for the future, to usher in desired behavioural change in the communities. This green zone depicts the creation of dense forest within the plant facility using the ‘Miyawaki Concept’ of plantation. The forests are dominantly planted with species of 4 major forest types such as Dry Deciduous, Moist Deciduous, Semi-evergreen and Evergreen Forest, covering 21 different sub-concepts such as Pollination meadows, herbal garden, plants for spices etc. So far, more than 42,000+ students & other stakeholders have been covered through ecozone initiative.
Expressing his thoughts, Mr. B. Padmanabha, Executive Vice President & Director of Manufacturing – Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “At Toyota Kirloskar Motor, we recognize that environmental and social sustainability are just as crucial as economic progression. Guided by Toyota’s Global Environmental Challenge 2050 (six challenges announced in 2015), our sustainability efforts are far reaching that go beyond product zero emissions. While the first three challenges seek to achieve zero carbon emissions covering the entire life cycle of our products, across manufacturing operations as well as our value chain, the last three challenges focuses to achieve water conservation, establishing recycled based society and living in harmony with nature.
We believe that a sustainable future is built through collective action and community involvement, as exemplified by one of our eco initiatives – Green Wave Program that covers afforestation (plantation drives, distribution of saplings), sharing best practices (e.g. Miyawaki plantation methodology), creating awareness on nature conservation and imbibing good eco behaviour (Toyota Ecozone – Experiential Eco Learning). Together with our employees and other stakeholders, we aim to catalyse positive change in the community to safeguard the environment to the future.”
Last year, over 5,000 saplings were planted by TKM employees, driven by both company’s plantation efforts as well individually, promoting mass afforestation within and outside the company premises. We also encourage our employees to visit Ecozone and confirm the growth of the plants. Building on these successes, TKM continues to enhance the nature conservation activities by encouraging and sharing the best practices on plantation activities across its value chain, including its suppliers and dealers, promoting the wider adoption of greenery along with other sustainable initiatives such as ‘No Plastic’ campaign, reducing water usage, and minimizing carbon footprints in operations.