FY2019 Highlight

Highlight 1 Mangrove Planting:
Protecting People and the Community by Nurturing a Healthy Forest

PT. Lintec Indonesia has been carrying out mangrove planting since 2016. By planting mangroves in cooperation with its sales office, PT. Lintec Jakarta, local residents, and participants from a local fisheries university and following up their growth through periodic observation of the growing conditions, the company contributes to the creation of a better community environment as well as to the livelihoods of local people.

Doing What We Can to Be of Assistance to This Country

Indonesia has more mangroves than anywhere else in the world. Many have already been cut down, however, to create aquaculture ponds and develop ports in coastal areas. The country had 3.058 million hectares of mangrove forests in 1990, but this had dropped to 2.244 hectares in 2015.^*

Compared with typical trees in Japan, mangrove forests are said to absorb twice the amount of CO₂ per unit of area. As various living organisms can hide in the forests, they are also called "peri-urban woodlands of the ocean" and play a significant role in conserving biodiversity. In addition, because each tree develops an extensive root system, they can prevent land erosion by waves and protect coastal areas from large waves and tsunamis. Land erosion has been a serious issue, especially in the area where PT. Lintec Indonesia carries out its tree planting, and residents in the coastal area have no choice but move to inland.

In the face of such circumstances, PT. Lintec Indonesia hoped to be of assistance to the country through its activity specific to Indonesia and started mangrove planting in 2016. The scale of the activity has been expanded year by year through trial and error, inviting participation from PT. Lintec Jakarta (sales office), local residents, and a local fisheries university, with the hope of helping to improve the livelihoods of local people and create a better community environment.

In 2019, the fourth year, a total of 112 people engaged in the activity to plant 2,500 seedlings. Participants accessed the target areas by boat from the nearby anchorage. While some had to struggle to avoid being swept off their feet due to the low water level on the day and the argillaceous tidal flats, they helped each other and completed the task without any major problems.

*Cited from the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 by FAO http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4808e.pdf

Contributing to the Community in Cooperation with Local People

PT. Lintec Indonesia started weeding and cleaning the area near the plant during the national green month (green April) in around 2013, when I was the plant manager. As we hoped to engage in activities more specific to Indonesia, a group of employees voluntarily started to plant mangroves in 2016.

Today, a local fisheries university asks us to deliver a lecture, and we are able to communicate to many people the difficulties involved in planting as well as the sense of fulfillment felt through participation in the activity. The Lintec Group exists as a global company thanks to the support of society. By carrying out what we can do in cooperation with local people in each region, we hope to keep growing with society.

Tomonori Kawakami
President
PT. Lintec Indonesia

Record of mangrove planting

<History>

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First planting	April 2016 Planted 1,500 seeds. July 2016 The seeds sank under the water due to a rise in water level and backwashes caused by fishing boats, and about 1,000 of them died. As the survival rate^* was around 30%, observation of the growing conditions came to take place once every three months.
Second planting	April 2017 Planted 2,500 seedlings about 50 cm tall, including to replace the 1,000 that died in the previous year. The survival rate was around 80%, and stable growth was confirmed.
Third planting	April 2018 Planted 2,000 seedlings about 80 cm tall. Wave absorbing dykes to protect the seedlings from backwashes caused by fishing boats and fences to prevent soil runoff were installed.
Fourth planting	April 2019 Planted 2,500 seedlings about 80 cm tall.

*Survival rate: The proportion of planted plants that take root and start to grow

<Growth of mangrove trees>

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<Planting areas>

<Accomplishments>

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Total area	1.89 hectares
Total number of trees planted	8,500 trees
Total participants	312 persons
Annual CO₂absorption	Approx. 43.8 t/year (Average amount based on the assumption that mangroves have a lifespan of 30 years)

Expanding Community-Based Activities

We have been involved in the administration of mangrove planting since it started. At the beginning, we knew neither how to plant mangroves nor how to find landowners but nevertheless managed to plant in a section thanks to the cooperation of many people. Although we were almost discouraged when more than half of the seeds we first planted sank under the water, the survival rate has been increasing each year since we started to observe the growing conditions once every three months and replant those likely to sink. Mangrove planting has expanded to other locations. We would like to continue to stay close to local communities and carry out community-based activities.

Daisuke Goto
Engineering Department
PT. Lintec Indonesia

Sugiharto
Quality Assurance Department
PT. Lintec Indonesia

Each Participant Engaging in Mangrove Planting with a Vision

<Number of participants>

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PT. Lintec Indonesia	23人
PT. Lintec Jakarta	6人
Lintec Corporation	2人
Landowners/Local residents	41人
Students of Bogor Fisheries University	40人
Total	112人

PT. Lintec Indonesia

We are proud of this initiative, in which employees do not just focus on making donations but actually plant trees. I will reach retirement age this year, so I am happy that I had the opportunity to participate in this program in my last year with the company.To expand the activities, we consider it necessary to cooperate with people and companies around us. We would like to share what we have learned and discuss it with each other.

Most employees come from inland areas, usually a long way away from mangrove habitats. However, we should be properly aware of this problem, and join the efforts to preserve the global environment. I will share what I have learned and discuss it with many people.

Before joining this activity, I have almost never had the opportunity to learn about mangrove issues. Now I think I need to know more about the importance of the species to protect the planet's environment. The activity needs to be scaled up to be more effective, so I would like to encourage many more people and companies around me to take part in the program.

There are only a few companies that host mangrove planting projects, so I am lucky that I had the opportunity to join this program. I gained a lot of valuable knowledge and experience from the program, and I will share it with many people, taking every possible opportunity to do so.

I first joined the planting activity in the second year. As there are few companies that host planting programs encouraging the participation of employees, the company is providing us with a precious opportunity to experience this kind of thing firsthand. This allows us to better communicate the importance of planting activities. I take pride in talking to society about what the Lintec Group does.

Hirokazu Kusumoto
Manufacturing Department

I have joined the mangrove planting activity, taking advantage of a precious opportunity that is unavailable in Japan. Although the initiative is expanding to other locations, it is still unfamiliar to many employees. So I will work to raise awareness of this activity back in Japan.

Koji Nagata
Finance & Accounting Department

Knowing that the Lintec Group is taking appropriate actions to address social challenges faced by Indonesia, where I have lived for many years, I am proud of being an employee of the Group. I will continue working to help make the company and its personnel indispensable to this country, regardless of nationality.

PT. Lintec Indonesia (Employees in charge of the administration of the project)

I have been involved in the planting activity since the initial year as an administrative staff member. Mainly, I prepare seedlings and make banners. Previously, I didn't know much about what is happening along the coast, but once I joined the activity, I began to feel a sense of responsibility to take action. I will continue working on this initiative as part of efforts to fulfill that responsibility.

I have been on the administration staff since the initiative started. During the past three years, I had few opportunities to listen to feedback and opinions from employees participating in planting activities. Then this year I was able to hear from many participants, who have confirmed my perception that employee awareness has been steadily increasing.

Shanti Lestari
Quality Assurance Department

I have been on the administration staff since the second year. My main responsibilities involve arranging cooperation with Bogor Fisheries University and internal coordination. I also organize internal workshops to study environmental issues, such as climate change and COP21^*. I hope to help many people increase their awareness of environmental issues through these educational and planting activities.

Sarni Pujiyanto
General Affairs & Personnel Department

*COP21: Twenty-first yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP), the UN conference held in the autumn of 2015 for promoting global initiatives to address climate change issues

PT. Lintec Jakarta

Thanks to the instructions on a planting technique that increases the survival rate, we were able to do a good job planting the seedlings. We hope to continue to engage in activities that make the Lintec Group an essential company in Indonesia and eventually link this initiative with our business.

You can cut down a mangrove forest in a matter of moments, but it will take many decades to restore it. Joining the program this year, I learned how difficult it is to properly plant even a single tree. I believe the Lintec Group should continue these activities to contribute to the environment and livelihoods of people in the coastal areas.

Lintec Corporation

This was the second time we participated in the mangrove planting. While our contribution may be humble, we will make our utmost efforts to support PT. Lintec Indonesia and PT. Lintec Jakarta. Being first accepted by local people is important in a business deployment in any region. As a global company, we would like to carry out effective activities for each country and region.

Makoto Hattori
Director, Managing Executive Officer
Executive General Manager, Business Administration Division

Gohei Kawamura
Director, Managing Executive Officer
Executive General Manager, Production Division and in charge of Quality Assurance & Environmental Protection Division

Students of Bogor Fisheries University

Third-year students participate in tree planting every year. We definitely wanted to participate because we had learned about the state of mangroves at university. This initiative was featured on a campus radio program, on the university website, and on social media, and many students are interested in the program. Although balancing the environment and economy is a difficult challenge, we think it is possible to make improvements by establishing rules on cutting down the trees.

I listened to the speech by Mr. Sugiharto from PT. Lintec Indonesia on the company's planting initiative. I was very impressed. We carry out planting activities as part of university programs, and I believe university-industry collaboration will achieve greater results. I hope other companies will follow PT. Lintec Indonesia to take appropriate action.

Landowners

I support PT. Lintec Indonesia and have been cooperating with the company since the start of the project. The coastal areas are facing difficult challenges related to land erosion and economic development. While what I can do alone is limited, I believe that gradual recovery is possible with everyone's cooperation.I would also like to rebuild the school and the place for prayer that have sunk under the sea.

Local residents

Karawang Regency, in which the planting areas are located, had approximately 9,000 hectares of mangrove forests but has lost 60%, or 5,400 hectares, of them. While I hold meetings for companies in Karawang Regency, tree planting is only half done. I hope PT. Lintec Indonesia reaches out to other companies as well and expands the activity.