Horqin Desert Afforestation Activities (Hitachi Construction Machinery (China) & Hitachi Construction Machinery (Shanghai))

On September 13, 2016, a group of 21 volunteers, comprising employees from Hitachi Construction Machinery (China) Co., Ltd. and Hitachi Construction Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and participants from 14 business partners conducted afforestation activities in the Horqin Desert, which is located in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.

The volunteer Horqin Desert afforestation project was started in 2004. Over a 10-year period up to 2013, the program has planted trees and greenery in a 100,000 square meter plot of desert, which has been dubbed the Hitachi Construction Machinery Forest. A new ten-year vision was created and launched in 2014. The goal is to work with sales agents in China to plant vegetation in to 130,000 square meter plot of land.

The volunteers’ first stop was to visit the Hitachi Construction Machinery Forest, which is flush with trees. There, Takashi Otaki, head of the local chapter of the NPO Green Network, gave an explanation of volunteer activities. The volunteers then observed the results of the desert afforestation activities.

In the afternoon, the volunteers were taken to a new 130,000 square meter patch of desert where they planted 150 pine tree seedlings. After they were finished, they watered the pine tree seedlings and prayed that the seedlings would grow into strong trees.

Hitachi Construction Machinery (China) and Hitachi Construction Machinery (Shanghai) are committed to continuing these afforestation activities.