Sony Global - CSR - Special Project - Project for Forest Preservation in Sumatra

In 2011, International Year of Forests, Sony launched activities to assist the preservation of forests on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, together with the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Japan.
The tropical forests of Sumatra boast a rich biological diversity with few parallels around the world. While they once covered the whole of the island, they rapidly shrank over the last 30 or so years. Urgent action is considered necessary to save the forests and the various types of flora and fauna, which include many endangered species. In addition, the occupation of land within national parks, logging, and other activities have caused an additional problem: the loss of habitats for wildlife owing to the related reduction of forest area. One of the factors behind the destruction of forests is the felling of natural forested tracts for the planting of acacia and other trees provided raw material for paper production, and for plantations producing palm oil. Made-in-Sumatra paper and palm oil are exported around the world.
Paper is produced from precious forest resources. With a keen awareness of their importance, Sony is promoting proper in-house use of paper. For example, paper is one of the items included in our GreenStar Program for evaluation of the environmental friendliness of our locations. Besides these voluntary in-house activities, we are engaged in communication campaigns to spread the word about the preservation efforts and situation in Sumatra. These efforts include assistance with tree-planting projects to restore precious forests and support for the Elephant Patrol program as part of our activities for contribution to society.

Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, a World Heritage site in Sumatra,
which Sony is helping to protect

The island of Sumatra in the Republic of Indonesia

Courtesy of the WWF Japan

The forest is located on the southern tip of Sumatra. In terms of biological diversity, it is a treasure trove and has been selected as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site under the title “Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.”

Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is home to a huge variety of plant and animal life. It is also a crucial habitat for the Rafflesia, which is teetering on the brink of extinction, and species native to Sumatra such as the Sumatra rhinoceros, elephant, and tiger.

Main activities supported by Sony

Sony is supporting on-site activities conducted by the WWF for forest preservation in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in Sumatra and communication activities for widespread knowledge of the related problems.

• Tree-planting programs

Sony is supporting tree-planting programs in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, a World Heritage site.

• Elephant Patrol program

Patrols are made by personnel astride elephants to uncover illegal activity such as occupation of land in the national park and to keep wild animals away from areas near the park where people live. Sony is providing support for this Elephant Patrol program.

• Communication support

Sony is donating Handycam, “α”, Cyber-shot, and other photography products along with editing tools such as VAIO so that locals can let others know about the on-site situation and their preservation activities. This equipment is in extensive use in Sumatra.

Tomi, the stray baby elephant

Tomi is a baby elephant that was discovered by the WWF team during a patrol in the forest in July 2009. The team's first thought was to return it to the forest, but the little elephant had not yet even been weaned, and would have found it hard to survive if put back in the wild all alone. Eventually, the Elephant Patrol members decided to care for it themselves.
Now, Tomi has become a veritable member of the Patrol team. It lives with the other four elephants and their trainers, and the Park rangers.

Sony is committed to continued support for preservation of this World Heritage forest so that it can remain a place where Tomi can live in safety once fully-grown.

Latest information

Click here for the latest information on the forest preservation activities and situation in Sumatra from Facebook “WWF Save Sumatra”(link to external site)

Shrinkage of forest in Sumatra

The Southeast Asian island of Sumatra is about 1.25 times as large as Japan and the sixth-biggest island in the world. Tropical forests once covered the whole island, but have been rapidly shrinking. The shrinkage over the last 30 years has been particularly alarming. There are apprehensions that, if logging continues at the current pace, the forests spreading out in the island's lowlands will disappear in the near future.

Source: data from WWF Japan research

About the WWF

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an environmental preservation group active in about 100 countries around the world. It is working for a future in which humankind lives at harmony with nature.