OUR STORIES
The Asahi Forest: A Natural Classroom, Bringing Nature’s Gifts to Future Generations
In this article, we explore the Asahi Forest – a project focused on preserving the forest sustainably while imparting the importance of nature's gifts. We delve into the inspiring journey of the company that became the personal caretaker of the forest, and how this initiative has fostered collaboration within the community.
The Asahi Forest, owned by Asahi Group, is comprised of a number of different forested areas of varying sizes dotting the cities of Shobara and Miyoshi in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. In total, the forest covers 2,165 hectares* of land. The Asahi Forest management adopts a long-term strategy, maintaining a balance between the 76% of the area that is a plantation forest and the remaining 24% that comprises naturally forested areas.
*2,467 hectares of land are under forest management
The Asahi Forest, a region rich in history, was established over 80 years ago, in 1941. At that time, beer bottles were crowned (stoppered) using cork.
This was when the Group purchased a mountain forest in Hiroshima Prefecture. The acquisition was a strategic decision, aimed at securing a reliable domestic source of Oriental Oak bark, an ideal cork alternative, in response to a possible disruption in cork imports.
Even though the circumstances never necessitated the use of this alternative, the project's discontinuation left the forest's health hanging in the balance. Without proper management, the forest's crucial ecological functions were on the precipice of decline. To prevent this, the Shobara Forestry Office (currently, the Asahi Forest’s Preservation Office) was established in 1949. In 1960, the Group decided to maintain ownership towards forest conservation. They initiated a full-scale forest management system, encouraging employees to take personal responsibility in preserving the forest. They began planting cypress and cedar trees, whilst also retaining areas of natural forest.
For more than 80 years, Asahi Group employees have been managing the forest with their own hands, with a commitment to corporate forestation aimed at creating a sustainable forest that maintains a good balance between efficient forestry and biodiversity preservation.
Successive generations of top executives have been planting commemorative trees in the Asahi Forest since 1993. In 2022, Atsushi Katsuki, the current CEO, also planted a tree, and the entire company has been nurturing the forest through a system that enables employees to manage it under their own responsibility with the same passion that Asahi Group displays when creating products.
The Group has made the Asahi Forest a hub for environmental education and initiatives to preserve the forest for future generations with the local communities.
In 2022, the Group held Forest Laboratory, a seminar co-created with Hiroshima City University. The seminar aimed to boost interest in forest-related issues and increase partnerships dedicated to preserving the forest for future generations. Through a series of four lectures and a tour of the Asahi Forest, attendees gained insight into the present conditions of forests, the forestry industry, and the challenges they confront.
There was also an exhibition of forest-themed artworks and prototypes created by participants of the seminar.
In a collaborative effort with Shobara City in Hiroshima Prefecture, the Group has opened up the Asahi Forest as a location for city’s environmental education programs, benefiting local elementary school students. The program offers students the unique opportunity to understand the integral role that forests play in our ecosystem and their impact on human life. The Asahi forest serves not just a gateway to nature, but also as an inspiration, igniting curiosity about the forestry industry.
Since 2014, the Group has been holding annual opinion exchange meetings with experts from universities, government agencies, NPOs, and businesses on the possibility of collaboration, how to utilize forests, and biodiversity conservation. The results of these meetings are reflected and implemented in the Group’s action plan for the creation of rich forests.
- 2001: Became the third forest in Japan to receive FSC®FM certification, awarded to properly managed forests
- 2005: Received FSC® FM/CoC certification, with the additional certification verifying that all production, processing, and distribution processes are managed to prevent mixing with products from forests not certified under FSC®FM
- 2008: Entered into a memorandum of understanding on the creation of beautiful forests with the Kinki Chugoku Regional Forest Office of the Forestry Agency
- 2011: Obtained offsetting credits (J-VER) from the Ministry of the Environment
- 2014: Awarded the Forestry Agency Director-General’s Prize at the 53rd National Forestry Management Promotion Event
- 2016: Awarded the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Prize at the 5th Contest for Corporate Activities on Biodiversity
- 2019: Registered as a Hiroshima Prefecture “forest practitioner with desire and ability”
- 2021: Registered as a Hometown Cultural Property Forest by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
- 2022: Awarded the Grand Prix in the Forest × Decarbonization Challenge 2022
- 2023: Mt. Kounomura (Shobara City, Hiroshima Prefecture) certified as a Natural Symbiosis Site by the Ministry of the Environment
The Asahi Forest is one of the ways that the Group contributes to the preservation of the natural environment and biodiversity. With the aim of integrating sustainability into its management, Asahi Group has been working on group-wide sustainability by building a global promotion structure and setting targets. We have adopted “Planet Positive,” representing the idea of having a positive impact on the earth, as our vision of the world for 2050, and we aim to pass on the gifts of nature to future generations.
