Sustainability is the future, which is why Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, finds it a privilege to announce and celebrate that the Company’s enterprise division has now lent a decade of support to the Arbor Day Foundation’s reforestation program. Since 2009, the company’s enterprise division helped contribute to the planting of more than 500,000 trees in the U.S., with this year’s efforts counting toward the Arbor Day Foundation’s Time for Trees initiative, under which the Arbor Day Foundation seeks to plant 100 million trees worldwide by 2022.
“We understand the vital importance of replenishing and maintaining our forests and are committed through our philosophy of Kyosei to promoting environmental responsibility to our employees, partners, and customers,” says Shinichi Yoshida, executive vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A. Inc. “It’s an honor to continue into our 10th year of supporting the Arbor Day Foundation, which we believe can help drive positive environmental impact in 2019 and beyond.”
The Arbor Day Foundation implements reforestation initiatives across the country to rebuild forests that are in desperate need of regrowth. Through this program, Canon contributes to the planting of one tree for every eligible imageRUNNER ADVANCE solution sold between April 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019, up to a maximum of 50,000 trees. These solutions can help users work conscientiously and allow administrators to enable settings that can help users save energy and paper.
This year, active replanting efforts are taking place all over the nation. Canon’s aid for 2019 is planned to help support reforestation efforts for the Superior National Forest (MN), habitat restoration for rare species in the Upper Altamaha Watershed (GA), and restoration of the longleaf pine ecosystem in the Big Thicket National Preserve (TX).
“Canon’s longstanding support has been invaluable to our forest revitalization efforts across the nation,” says Dan Lambe, president, Arbor Day Foundation. “The Foundation appreciates Canon’s continued corporate support to address one of the world’s most challenging environmental issues.”
UPM has received recognition from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for its exemplary forest management practices. The recognition was conferred by the Forestry General Direction of Uruguay as part of a National Workshop titled “Methodological Transfer of Exemplary Cases of Sustainable Forest Management”.
The acknowledgement followed a thorough investigation of various aspects of the company’s production chain conducted by a panel of experts from the INIA (Agribusiness Research Institute), the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of the Republic of Uruguay and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.
The Koehler Group is planning to fully convert its power plant at its Oberkirch/Germany location to biomass in the coming years. This change is part of Koehler’s sustainability strategy, which includes the goal of producing more energy from renewable sources than is required for its paper production operations by 2030. Koehler Group CEO Kai Furler is thrilled with the plan: “By switching from bituminous coal to biomass as the primary fuel for our location here in Oberkirch, we will be cutting more than 150,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions a year.” The company has had a number of extremely successful projects designed to reduce the energy consumed in its paper production operations for many years now. A few years ago, the company declared that it would be producing more energy from renewable sources than required for its own needs by 2030. This is why the company is now converting its coal-fired power plant at the Oberkirch location to biomass. With its Fuel Emissions Trading Act, the German government made it more difficult to use fossil fuels, which is why Koehler will be implementing its plans for the conversion three years earlier than originally planned.
One year on, and our project to support Myanmar as it reforms its forest sector is gathering pace. This was clear last month, as the Myanmar Forest Certification Committee (MFCC) held its first annual multi-stakeholder coordination meeting. The half-day coordination meeting was attended by a range of stakeholders, including the Myanmar Government’s Forestry Department, Timber Enterprise and Department of Research and Innovation, FAO, FLEGT VPA advisors, international and national NGOs, certification bodies and the private sector. This coordination meeting marks an important step in this 3-year project to support the country as it transitions to the sustainable management of its forests, funded jointly by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, PEFC and MFCC. Click Read More below for additional information.