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Honda’s Biodiversity Conservation Initiatives: Saitama Factory Becomes First Honda Production Site to Obtain Certification as an OECM
POINTWhat you can learn from this article
- Honda has been addressing environmental issues for over 60 years
- Mobility Resort Motegi and Saitama Factory Automobile Plant certified as OECM by Japanese Ministry of the Environment in 2023 and 2024 respectively
- Honda is engaged in activities in cooperation with local communities to achieve its vision for the environment and safety, the “joy and freedom of mobility” and the “realization of a rich and sustainable society.”
Honda’s Environmental Strategy that Defines Biodiversity Conservation as One of its Most Important Issues
Honda has been actively working to solve environmental issues since the 1960s and is continuously promoting activities to realize the “joy and freedom of mobility” and a “rich and sustainable society.”
In its efforts to achieve nature-positive coexistence with nature, Honda identified the conservation of biodiversity as one of its top priorities and is working not only to avoid or minimize impacts on nature, including air, water, and biodiversity, but also to restore and rehabilitate it.
In 2023, Mobility Resort Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture became the first Honda site to be certified as an OECM (Other effective area-based conservation measures) biodiversity conservation area under the “30 by 30 Alliance for Biodiversity* established under the initiative of the Ministry of the Environment, in which Honda also participates. Of the vast, 640-hectare site, approximately 70% is forest that has not been developed and has been left as a nature symbiosis site, which is home to approximately 5,800 species of wildlife including rare species.
*Collaboration among organizations that support the “30 by 30” target, which aims to effectively conserve at least 30% of the land and sea as healthy ecosystems by 2030.
Saitama Factory’s Goal of Balancing Business Activities and Coexistence with Nature
Through over 60 years of experience in environmental conservation activities, Honda successfully gained certification of its Saitama Factory Automobile Plant (Yorii Plant) as an OECM biodiversity conservation area, Honda’s first production site, in 2024, following Mobility Resort Motegi.
Local residents participated in rice planting event
Katsura Tayama, working on nature symbiosis in the Environmental Planning Department, explains the certified OECM site
The Yorii Plant is the base plant for the production of completed automobiles, and is preparing to become Honda’s first carbon-neutral plant in its March 2026 term.
As part of its efforts to conserve biodiversity, Honda preserved approximately 30% of the site as biodiversity-friendly green space, in order to reduce the impact on the local ecosystem. Honda is also working to maintain the Satoyama (natural woodland) environment, which is important for preserving the local ecosystem, by systematically pruning and cutting down the originally existing quercus serrata and sawtooth oak forests and cedar and cypress plantations, and by managing the forest floor, the ground surface of the forest.
Reservoir within the site
The Yorii Plant is surrounded by a rich natural environment. We are communicating with local residents and working together with them to preserve the Satoyama environment. We will continue to work on both business activities and coexistence with nature, and we will continue our activities so that Honda can be a company that the local community want to exist in the community.
Shuji Mihori, General Environmental Manager, Saitama Factory
As part of its efforts to coexist with nature, Honda is also focusing on creating a comfortable living environment for the various wildlife that inhabits the premises’ biotope.
For example, fireflies don’t like light, so we leave many tall plants to protect them from light. On the other hand, jay rats prefer medium-stemmed grassland that is not too tall, so we try to weed out the taller plants. Although it is time-consuming, we do not use any herbicides, but instead use lawn mowers and other weeding methods to minimize the impact on living creatures.
In addition, rare and endangered species of plants and animals, such as the jay rat, the genji firefly, and the four-spotted skimmer, live on the site as a result of exterminating non-native species.
Jay rat confirmed on site
Fireflies and other creatures have now become rare throughout Japan. I personally want to maintain a rich natural environment where these creatures can live. I believe it is important to pass this on to the next generation, and I am promoting activities to achieve this goal.
(left) Yoshinobu Hakamada, Group Leader, Yorii Facility Group, Facility Management Division , (right)Hiroyuki Ikawa, Green Space, Facilities Management Section
Working Together with Local Residents to Conserve Biodiversity
Honda holds events not only for Saitama Factory employees, but also for residents of the Yorii area, to experience rice planting and harvesting using the paddy biotope, guided tours of the biotope, and events using the bamboo forest, to share and promote the function and purpose of the biotope, conservation of diverse plants and animals, and its management policy to the local community. Honda is also working to raise awareness and promote biodiversity.
We are trying to make it possible for not only Yorii Plant employees and their families, but also local residents and their children to participate in the activities while having fun. We try to make the events an opportunity to deepen exchanges with local residents while working together with them.
Honda receives everything it needs, such as gasoline and water, from nature to continue its business and corporate activities. Honda believes that it must return these benefits to nature and will continue in its efforts to preserve and restore the natural environment.
Hiroyuki Iijima, Cultural Services, Saitama Administration
Honda will continue to engage in activities to pass on an enriched lifestyle to the next generation, aiming to create a society of tomorrow with dreams: abundant nature, clean oceans, safety for all, a future where children can freely fulfill their dreams, and a society where everyone can live comfortably.
Biotope guided tour
Honda recognizes that its corporate activities may have an impact on biodiversity and has been focusing on conservation and restoration activities. I am delighted that the Yorii Plant’s conservation activities to date have been certified as an OECM site.
Through discussions with Yorii Plant members and trial and error, we were able to gain certification in recognition of our community-wide efforts to restore the devastated biotope, exterminate invasive alien species, and conduct rice planting and harvesting activities in cooperation with local residents.