Contributing to Communities Where Sumitomo Forestry Operates

The Sumitomo Forestry Group aims to contribute to sustainable local development through its operations. When starting new businesses or expanding its overseas business sites, the Group's policy is to consider the environment, revitalize local economies and promote employment and thereby operate in harmony with local communities.

Activities in Indonesia

Support for Children through the KTI Educational Foundation

PT. Kutai Timber Indonesia (KTI) founded the KTI Educational Foundation in 2000 to commemorate its 30th anniversary with the purpose of improving the livelihood of people in Indonesia through education as well as engaging in social activities. This foundation primarily provides educational support to impoverished children as well as school supplies to public schools in Probolinggo in the East Java province where a Sumitomo Forestry Group plant is located. In fiscal 2024, we spent IDR38,270,000 (approximately 360,000 yen) on support, such as school fees and the provision of learning materials and textbooks for children.

Respect for Local Tradition and Culture at Overseas Forests

At forestry business in Indonesia, Sumitomo Forestry also deepens its understanding about the local culture and traditions by engaging in efforts to respect the traditions and cultures of local communities, such as capital support for traditional events held by local residents.

Ecosystem Conservation Activities

Sumitomo Forestry Group's BIOS held mangrove conservation events on July 26, both in 2023 and 2024, in alignment with the "International Day for the Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems."* In 2024, not only BIOS employees, but also local fishermen and school officials participated in planting mangrove seedlings and environmental education, reaffirming the importance of community-wide efforts to conserve mangroves.

* UNESCO designated July 26, 2015, as International Day for the Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems. It aims to raise awareness of precious mangroves, which face the risk of extinction, and to promote their sustainable protection, management, and utilization

Mangrove Planting in the Coastal Area

At the coastal area near BIOS, mangrove vegetation has been lost due to past human disturbances. Approximately 400 seeds of the local native species Rhizophora mucronata were planted.

Conservation of Rare Species

The critically endangered mangrove species Bruguiera hainesii grows naturally along the coast near a village neighboring BIOS. To protect this tree species growing along the coastline from soil erosion caused by waves, we constructed protective fences around it made of bamboo.

Building Infrastructure and Providing Basic Educational and Medical Support in Neighboring Business Regions

PT. Mayangkara Tanaman Industri (MTI), a large-scale commercial afforestation project in Indonesia, views sustainable development of local communities as a vital managerial challenge, and thereby, undertaking community services that meet the needs of local residents in the areas through education, medical care and sanitation, infrastructure development, agriculture, and livelihood enhancement.

Creation of Employment Opportunities

This forestry business acts as an invaluable employment opportunity for a local community with little industry. In particular, seedling production creates local employment opportunities for women who have few options.

Infrastructure

In fiscal 2018, we began applying the water level management technology we have developed through our projects to flood control in the surrounding communities. We are providing surrounding villages with infrastructure that is easy to maintain and can effectively regulate water levels.

Education, Medical and Sanitation Support

A water purifying plant was setup in villages in business regions to supply safe water for daily use to residents. In addition, Sumitomo Forestry works to provide basic educational support by expanding local elementary schools and deploying teachers where facilities and instructors are lacking, as well as providing medical support by operating clinics and providing free examinations for neighboring residents.

In addition, we are carrying out environmental education initiatives to raise the environmental awareness of children attending local elementary schools. In addition to classes on the importance of and methods for protecting forests, flora and fauna, we conduct hands-on tree planting events and donate stationery.

In fiscal 2024, MTI implemented an environmental education program for 102 children from three local elementary schools.

Activities in Papua New Guinea

Building Social Infrastructure and Medical Support

Open Bay Timber Ltd. (OBT) in Papua New Guinea has been involved in forestry businesses since 1984 and it contributes greatly to the economic development of the region. In 2007, OBT became a group company of Sumitomo Forestry to further healthy expansion and effective use of wood resources from planted forests.

Clinic Operations

OBT also operates its own clinics and super markets for their employees and local residents to use because the development of social infrastructure is insufficient in Papua New Guinea. In neighboring villages, OBT nurses periodically visit neighboring villages to perform infant health checkups and provide advice to the sick as well as conduct educational activities.

The Open Bay Clinic is staffed day and night by health workers employed by OBT, who provide general medical care, deliveries, and medications, and also receive inpatients and transport critical patients over land and sea to large hospitals. The patients receiving care are not only employees and their families but also many people who travel from far away for treatment.

Activities in United States

Social Contribution Activities through the Housing Business

Mainview Day

MainVue Homes of Sumitomo Forestry Group set up MainVue Day in 2015 as a day each year for employees to participate in volunteer activities. This program both works as an ongoing philanthropic activity and also an opportunity to reflect on a corporate philosophy that focuses on giving back to society.

In 2024, in Washington State, we supported the NPO Akin (Children's Home Society of Washington), which provides community spaces and essential supplies, such as diapers, to families in need with children up to age 12. At a child-rearing support center located in the city of Kent, we helped repair play areas and landscape the garden. MainVue engages in the development and sale of a large number of subdivisions in the area around Auburn, so we organized volunteer activities with the aim of contributing to the community.

Participation in Habitat for Humanity

Crescent of Sumitomo Forestry Group participates in various programs sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, an international non-profit organization (NPO) that provides housing assistance in more than 70 countries worldwide.

In 2023, Crescent and a developer active in the Charlotte area collaborated on a project to build a detached house in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. This project is geared toward low-income families who are unable to afford housing.

Sumitomo Forestry Group companies DRB, Edge Homes, and Mark III Properties also donated to Habitat for Humanity and took part in housing support activities.

Participation in Environmental Conservation Efforts

In 2024, Crescent collaborated with nonprofit organizations, such as Catawba Lands Conservancy, She Built This City, NC Wildlife Federation, and Carolina Raptor Center, to install 13 birdhouses in River District, a large-scale master-planned development led by Crescent. Through this initiative, Crescent participated in efforts to protect the local ecosystem. The birdhouses were made using wood sourced from River District. Crescent will continue to actively implement environmental promotion activities in the future.

Tree-Planting Activities in Charlotte

Employees from Crescent's Charlotte office with the NPO Trees Charlotte planted 69 trees in a local affordable housing community.

Participation in Social Welfare Activities

Crescent is also actively involved in social welfare activities.

In 2024, Crescent employees volunteered to sort food at The Bulb, an NPO that collects misshapen food from supermarkets and distributes food in areas with limited access to fresh produce. In addition, at a golf event hosted by Crescent, donations were raised for ROC Charlotte, an organization that supports vocational training for high school students in the construction industry, demonstrating active engagement in social welfare activities.

She Built This City & Roof Above

In collaboration with the construction team at Crescent, we worked with the organization She Built This City, which aims to create employment opportunities for women in the construction industry, to produce benches for a park. The benches were donated to Fisher Farm Park, located near NOVEL Davidson, a multifamily residential community currently being developed by Crescent.

Activities in New Zealand

Contributions to Local Disaster Prevention and Rescue Efforts

Tasman Pine Forests (TPF) contributes to integrated fire prevention/extinguishing activities in the community in cooperation with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), a New Zealand firefighting organization, and neighboring forestry companies. Specifically, TPF contributes firefighting equipment such as fire engines to be operated by the FENZ-led local fire brigade to help prevent and extinguish forest fires in the community.

In addition, TPF employees and logging contractors are working to improve their disaster awareness and capabilities by attending elementary forest fire extinguishing training.
Since fiscal 2017, TPF has been donating activity capital for natural disasters that occur in the region and for leisure accidents as a sponsor to the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter Trust every year. The TPF logo is posted on the Marlborough Rescue helicopter.

Teapot Valley Area Natural Forest Restoration Project Begins

Beginning in 2021, a project to restore natural forests damaged by the Pigeon Valley fire in TPF's mountain forests in February 2019 has begun. Teapot Valley was one of the areas most affected by the fire, and the area contained rare trees and wetlands. The project is part of the New Zealand government's Billion Tree Plantation Project, a government initiative that will last approximately four years. TPF is participating in the project from a financial and operational perspective. In September 2022, we also invited officials from the Ministry of Primary Industries and Tasman District Council to participate in reforestation activities. In 2023, 13,000 trees of various species were planted to establish a vibrant ecosystem, and in 2024, activities were carried out, such as monitoring the growth of the planted trees and weed control.