Yamaha Motor Launches Mangrove Planting Project in Indonesia - Sustainable forest management and ecosystem conservation to keep oceans pristine for future generations -

IWATA, July 16, 2024 -- Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 7272) announces it has signed a service agreement with YL Forest Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, "YLF"), a company headquartered in Fukuoka City that is implementing its proprietary mangrove planting method in the Republic of Indonesia. Going forward, funding provided to YLF by the Company will go toward launching a new mangrove planting project in the country's province of South Sulawesi.

The agreement entrusts YLF with silvo-fishery-based mangrove planting work over a three-year period, aimed at contributing to biodiversity, carbon neutrality, and preventing marine pollution. Through YLF's work, Yamaha Motor will plant 215 hectares (approximately 370,000 trees) of mangroves as well as maintain operations in the project area.

YLF conducts afforestation work using its own version of silvo-fishery for mangrove planting. Silvo-fishery (a portmanteau of "silviculture" and "fishery") is a method that yields the benefits of both mangrove reforestation and aquaculture regeneration. This combination not only contributes to sustainable forest management but also to improving the livelihoods of local residents through sustainable aquaculture paired with the natural environment. Furthermore, mangrove forests store large amounts of carbon underground, making them an important channel for blue carbon.*

One of the four items in the Company's Marine Long-Term Vision is "Towards a future with a greater ocean than the current one of today." As a marine industry leader, Yamaha Motor will continue working to preserve the world's beautiful waters in order to achieve this goal.

*Carbon absorbed into coastal and marine ecosystems that accumulates in the biomass and soil below it.

Silvo-fishery-based afforestation example
(Photo courtesy of YL Forest Co., Ltd.)

Silvo-fishery-based afforestation

In the Republic of Indonesia, afforestation through silvo-fishery takes shape by planting mangroves in the center of abandoned or low-productivity aquaculture ponds (as shown below) and is a method of supporting sustainable forest management as well as the fishery industry by cultivating shrimp and fish in the surrounding waterways.

The leaves from the mangrove trees fall onto the surrounding waterways and attract plankton, which then become food for shrimp and fish, reducing the burden on the environment and enabling sustainable forest management and fishery. Furthermore, for the local residents who actually manage the ponds, no feed or chemicals are required, which leads to cost savings and makes the aquaculture easier to sustain. In this way, the mangroves are an essential part of a codependent relationship for sustaining that aquaculture. It is an arrangement where protecting these forests contributes to combating global warming, while the aquaculture contributes to improving the livelihoods of local residents.

Illustration of silvo-fishery-based afforestation
(Courtesy of YL Forest Co., Ltd.)

Diagram of the multiple benefits ofsilvo-fishery-based afforestation
(Courtesy of YL Forest Co., Ltd.)

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