Ricoh participates in the 30 by 30 Alliance for Biodiversity

TOKYO, April 22, 2022 – Ricoh Company, Ltd. today announced its participation in the 30 by 30 Alliance for Biodiversity (hereinafter “Alliance”), which is initiated by 17 organizations from industry, government, and the private sector, including the Ministry of the Environment.

 

Believing that the conservation of biodiversity leads to truly affluent and sustainable societies, the Ricoh Group established the Ricoh Group Biodiversity Policy in 2009. The aim is to reduce the environmental impacts associated with its business activities while at the same time maintaining and enhancing the earth’s ability to regenerate itself. Its participation in the Alliance is positioned to further accelerate these activities based on this policy.

The Alliance is a coalition to effectively promote various measures in the roadmap in Japan with the aim of achieving the "30 by 30 target" (hereinafter "30 by 30") to conserve and protect at least 30% of the world's land and sea area by 2030, which was agreed at the G7 Summit in the UK in June 2021. As the first phase, a total of 116 companies, local governments, and NPOs are participating. In addition to aiming for OECM* registration and expansion of protected areas within their own properties and jurisdictions, participants will cooperate to achieve 30 by 30 by supporting the management of other areas even if they do not own or manage land themselves, or by incorporating contributions to 30 by 30 into strategies developed by local governments themselves.

Ricoh will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals agreed upon by the international community by solving social issues through business and realizing a sustainable society.

* OECM— ‘Other effective area-based conservation measures’ is a conservation designation for areas that are achieving the effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity outside of protected areas.

Considering forest conservation important not only from the viewpoint of biodiversity conservation but also from that of global warming prevention and sustainable community development, the Ricoh Group is promoting forest development both in terms of protection and in the increase of trees.

Since 1999, Ricoh has been developing forest conservation activities from a global perspective in partnership with environmental NGOs and other experts. Unlike simple afforestation, the main aims of these activities are to protect the habitats of indigenous species and the lifestyles of local residents, as well as to establish a system for sustainable forestry management. Ricoh has participated in conservation activities at 14 sites in 10 countries, including in Brazil, Malaysia, and Mexico, and established a sustainable forest management system.

Aiming to contribute to the development of local communities, employees of the Ricoh Group have been working together with various stakeholders, including local governments and local residents, on “forest development through cooperative work with stakeholders” since 2017. Ricoh works on activities to promote the restoration of rural landscapes with rich biodiversity and the revitalization of communities of local residents.

Ricoh Elemex Corporation, a manufacturing subsidiary of the Ricoh Group, has been engaged in activities to conserve more than 40 hectares forest in Ena, a city in the southeast part of Gifu Prefecture since 2010. In April 2014, an organization consisting of representatives of local residents, local businesses, and nonprofits as well as representatives of Ricoh Group companies, was established to enable future generations to utilize the precious forest resources together with the local community. 

Since 2009, Ricoh Industrie France S.A.S., a production-related affiliate in France, has been planting and clearing the entire site thanks to employee volunteers. It has also conducted initiatives to foster local biodiversity, including a study on the possibility of sustainable honeybee beekeeping, in which not only employees but also customers actively participate. Ricoh is implementing a variety of biodiversity conservation activities, including the active participation of its customers as well as its employees.

Domestic sales subsidiary Ricoh Japan Corporation is planting trees in Indonesia and the Philippines in proportion to unit sales of energy-saving MFPs.