Minamishimabara AEON no Satoyama Certified as "Nature Co-creation Site" by Ministry of the Environment

The "Minamishimabara AEON no Satoyama," where the city of Minamishimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture (Mayor: Masahiro Matsumoto), the Minamishimabara City "Minna no Mori Mori" Council (Representative: Seiki Nagahashi), and the AEON Environmental Foundation (Chairman: Motoya Okada, Chairman and Representative Executive Officer of AEON Co., Ltd.; hereinafter referred to as "the Foundation") have been continuously engaged in environmental activities since 2010, was certified today as a "Nature Co-creation Site" under the Act on Promotion of Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (to be enforced in 2025). We will promote biodiversity conservation and advance environmental activities towards achieving the "30x30 Target."

The area of "Minamishimabara AEON no Satoyama" had its forest's water source conservation function diminished due to land reclamation in 1946 and the development of a radio transmitter in 1978. Even after the radio transmitter was decommissioned in 1990, the area remained devastated. To restore the water source conservation function, the three parties planted 55,500 trees over 20.5 ha through three years of tree planting starting in 2010, with the participation of 3,770 local volunteers.

Sixteen years have passed since the tree planting, and the trees in this satoyama have grown large, becoming a forest where various plants and animals inhabit. As environmental education, activities such as carbon stock surveys, forest learning including bamboo shoots digging, and stargazing events are conducted, and the number of related people visiting this satoyama from surrounding areas is increasing. This certification recognizes the growth of flora and fauna in this satoyama, as well as various environmental education activities and future activity plans.

The Foundation is also actively working towards achieving the "30x30 Target." In 2024, the "Aya Town AEON Forest" and the adjacent "Hyuganatsu Field in Waritsuke District" in Aya Town, Miyazaki Prefecture, were certified as "Nature Co-creation Sites." Furthermore, the Foundation has joined the "SATOYAMA Initiative," an international effort aiming to realize a "nature-coexisting society," and is disseminating this globally.

The three parties will continue to cooperate to implement sustainable circular management that coexists with nature, focusing on biodiversity conservation that supports regional ecosystem services, and will work towards creating new added value.

* "30x30" is one of the global targets for 2030 adopted in the "Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework" in 2022, aiming for effective conservation of at least 30% of land and sea as healthy ecosystems.

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