JBIB had developed a toolkit with three practical tools for sustainable land use—the JBIB Guidelines for Sustainable Business Sites, JBIB Land Use Score Card, and JBIB Monitoring Sheet—which serves a major role in promoting activities to conserve biodiversity in the corporate greenery of Japan.

With the establishment of the Association for Businesses in harmony with Nature and Community (ABINC) and the ABINC Certification for Business Facilities Engaging in Conservation of Biodiversity in December 2013, the toolkit became the basis for certification evaluation, and its application is expanding throughout the industrial world to include not just factories, but office buildings, condominiums and shopping centers as well.

Along with this toolkit, JBIB also formulated the Guidelines for Forestation for Harmony with Nature to encourage companies to build forests that give due consideration to living things.

To use the outcomes of such activities—the corporate greenery and forests that had been developed—as the stage for new endeavors, JBIB launched the Working Group for Discovering & Sharing Green Values in 2018 to go one step beyond and actively build dialogue with the community.

Activities

JBIB holds an event called JBIB Biodiversity Days. An initiative that preceded the establishment of the working group, it has been held annually since 2017.

With the aim to heighten interest in and knowledge of biodiversity among the general public with the ultimate goal of mainstreaming biodiversity, events are held in the corporate greenery of JBIB member companies with the participation of the company employees, their families, and nearby residents.

The activities they undertake include the monitoring of plants and animals in the area and conserving the forest. More than 10,000 people have participated in JBIB Biodiversity Days since the start of the event in 2017.

In 2020, it was held as an online event due to the coronavirus pandemic. An online talk session was held while streaming a video of the working group members walking and talking in the area from Tokyo station to the Otemachi business district and the Imperial Palace to introduce urban greenery in central Tokyo.

Holding the event online led to the participation of people from more diverse backgrounds than before and greatly contributed to the event’s goal of heightening interest in and knowledge of biodiversity among the people living and working in the area.

The working group will continue to provide such opportunities for more and more people to discover and share the value of greenery, while expanding knowledge and initiatives essential for the conservation of biodiversity and realization of a sustainable society.

Participant Companies

AEON Co., Ltd.
Kao Corporation
Regional Environmental Planning Inc.
Ricoh Company, Ltd.
Shimizu Corporation
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd.
Takenaka Corporation
Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.