Toyota Makes Trees - Brief Article

Industrialists can no longer ignore the effects of their activity on the environment. In a world which is more and more polluted and threatened by global warming, their reputation and future depend on doing something about it.

The Japanese vehicle-maker Toyota has understood this since the end of the 1980s. It launched its "Toyota Forest" programme in 1992, the year of the Rio Earth Summit, with the goal of using biotechnology to turn trees into anti-pollution agents.

Today Toyota is proud of its experimental forests, including Foresta Hills, half an hour by car from the company's headquarters. The firm is trying to revive satoyama, which are ancient protected hills on the edge of populated areas. They are a source of wood and prized items like matsutake mushrooms and urushi, Japanese lacquer.

"In this forest, we're developing the same activities our ancestors did in the 19th century," says Yasuhiko Komatsu, the project's chief. "We want to create satoyama for the 21st century." The giant company's engineers say they are trying to reduce vehicle emissions but cannot get rid of them completely. So other solutions have to be found-by using trees.

At Foresta Hills, the effect of different kinds of trees on the level of carbon dioxide in the air can be measured. In some places it is 10 to 20 times lower than in others. The most "effective" trees are those which grow quickly, stand up to difficult surroundings and resist diseases and insects, so these are the ones biologists want to learn how to cultivate. Increasing the number of chromosomes of some trees has boosted their ability to absorb toxic gases by a third.

Toyota is also researching into how to speed up the growth of trees in very acidic soil with a view to the reforestation of southeast Asia, which has been devastated by deforestation. Recently, the company began organizing reforestation activities outside Japan, and in August 1998 joined with paper manufacturers to set up the firm of Australian Afforestation Pty. Over the next decade, 5,000 fast-growing, drought-resistant eucalyptus trees will be planted in Australia, later to be chopped down and made into paper.

Toyota's work has drawn criticism however. Environmentalists are worried about the effects on the environment of genetically-modified species. Others argue that the main priority in fighting the greenhouse effect is to reduce emissions of pollutants and cut back on motor traffic.

"The car-makers are planting trees to give themselves a nice green image while hoping their vehicle sales don't drop," says Michel Raquet of Greenpeace Europe. "What will they get in return? Carbon credits, even though there is no scientific guarantee that their forestry projects will have any effect on the atmosphere."

"One of these days," says Ashley Mattoon of Worldwatch Institute, "we will have to ask ourselves how much more time, energy and money should be spent on tinkering with nature and satisfying our dependence on fossil fuels."

Yoshinori Takahashi Tokyo-based journalist

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