Obtained"specified breeding company”certification forelite tree seedlings Production in Akita Prefecture

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.

 

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (head office : Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo,President and Representative Director: Toru Nozawa, hereinafter referred to as"the Company”) is aJapanese cedarandJapanese cypresselite treesIn order to expand the seedling production business of elite trees etc. _*1, Akita Prefecture has also obtained"specified breeding company”_*2. This is the first time that one ward has acquired aJapanese cedarseed distribution area (7 areas in Japan)_*3 based on forestry industry Seed and Seedling Law and a closedseed plantationwill be opened in the prefecture by October this year.

 

The Group has so far established seed plantation and scion plantation_*4 in Shizuoka Prefecture (3 wards), Tottori and northern Hiroshima prefectures (4 wards), southern Hiroshima Prefecture (5 wards), and Kumamoto and Oita prefectures (6 wards) among the seven regions in Japan.Japanese cedarWe have been developing a production system forelite tree seedlingssuch asJapanese cypress. In addition to the annual production of 150,000 seeds in Akita Prefecture, we have decided to increase production by 200,000 at the closedseed plantationin Tottori Prefecture that we opened last year, bringing the Company production capacity of elite tree seedlings in Japan to 1.6 million per year, and we will further accelerate our efforts to build a production system of 10 million seedlings by 2030.

 

Since the prevalence of hay fever has reached more than 40% and has become a social problem, the government announced a policy to increase the production ratio ofJapanese cedarseedlings with low pollen to more than 90% of the totalJapanese cedarseedlings in 10 years at"Ministerial Meeting on Hay Fever”on May 30. Theelite tree seedlingsofJapanese cedarproduced by the Groupare less than half of the pollen content of general cedar seedlings, and for example, in Kyushu, we mainly supply varieties with less than 1%. In this way, the expansion of the production of ourelite tree seedlingscan greatly contribute to the fight against hay fever in the future.

 

In addition to measures against hay fever, the spread ofelite treeswill also contribute to solving Social Issues such as the expansion of CO₂ sinks in Japan and the restoration offorestry industry. As a large-scale forest owner with approximately 400Company-owned Forestsin Japan with a total area of approximately 90,000 hectares, in addition to the external sale of seedlings,the Company will graduallyplantation on the reforestation land of our Company-owned Foreststo improve the efficiency ofInvestmentsrecovery. In order to expand the spread of elite trees, NIPPON PAPER GROUP will strengthen its efforts by launching a project to expand the seedling business across group companies the Company Nippon Paper Lumber Co., Ltd.and Nippon Paper Tsusho, as well as Nippon Paper Tsusho.

 

The Company"a comprehensive biomass company shaping the future with trees”, we will contribute to the construction of acirculation-oriented societyby promoting the spread of biomass products while maximizing the various values of forests based on the Company Green Strategy.

 

 

*1 elite trees, etc.

In the Special Measures Act on Thinning, etc., it refers to seedlings derived from specified mother trees (specified seedlings) designated by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as having particularly excellent characteristics related to growth in order to improve the CO₂ absorption and fixation capacity of forests. The criteria for designation of specific mother trees include those with growth ability that is more than 1.5 times that of conventional lines, pollen content that is less than half that of commonJapanese cedarandJapanese cypress, excellent wood rigidity, and no bending of trunk straightness.

 

*2 specified breeding company

Based on the matters related to the implementation method of the Specified Propagation Project stipulated in the Basic Policy of the Special Measures Act on Thinning, etc., it refers to a business that has been certified by the prefectural governor to prepare aPlanfor the propagation ofelite trees, etc., which are seeds and seedlings with excellent growth (Specified Propagation BusinessPlan).

 

*3 Forestry Seed and Seedling Distribution Japanese cedar Area Based on the forestry industry Seed and Seedling Law The forestry industrySeed and Seedling Law defines the distribution area of seedlings in order to promote afforestation appropriately and smoothly. The distribution area is an area that is recognized as suitable for Human Resource Developmentfrom the perspective of natural conditions in a certain area, and isJapanese cedarareas in Japan.

 

*4 seed plantation/scion plantation

seed plantationis an arboretum where mother trees are planted for the purpose of producing seeds, making it easier to collect seeds. seed plantationSowing the seeds obtained from the garden to produce seedlings. In the closedseed plantationthat the Groupis developing, artificial breeding in a greenhouse ensures thatelite treesare crossed with each other, enabling early production and increase production of seeds that fully inherit the characteristics ofelite treescompared to conventional open field plants. On the other hand, ascion plantationis an arboretum in which a mother tree is planted with the aim of obtaining scions for cutting seedling production.