Updated by "Forest Circular Economy" Editorial Board on August 13, 2025, 3:16 PM JST
Editorial Board, Forest Circular Economy
Forestcircularity-editor
We aim to realize "Vision 2050: Japan Shines, Forest Circular Economy" promoted by the Platinum Forest Industry Initiative. We will disseminate ideas and initiatives to promote biomass chemistry, realize woody and lumbery communities, and encourage innovation in the forestry industry in order to fully utilize forest resources to decarbonize the economy, strengthen economic security, and create local communities.
On August 12, Machida City, Tokyo, and Tamagawa Gakuen concluded a new business collaboration agreement to utilize and recycle trees in the city as resources. Through the city's "Machida Tree Utilization Project" and the school's "Tamagawa Mokurin Project," they will contribute to the formation of a sustainable society and the development of the environment and local communities.
Through this agreement, the city aims to establish a model of public-academic collaboration. Specifically, the city will provide the Tamagawa Gakuen with wood resources generated from public spaces as educational materials and event exhibits, and the Gakuen will utilize them. The city will also develop events and environmental education programs for Machida residents and Tamagawa Gakuen children and students. Both parties plan to use public relations media and SNS to spread awareness of their activities.
The collaboration is an attempt to transform the tree management challenges faced by both parties into opportunities to create new value and raise people's environmental awareness.
In Machida City, many of the trees in public spaces have become old and large-diameter trees, making maintenance and management an issue. Therefore, the city is promoting a project to utilize trees cut down in the process of maintenance as "Machida trees," a resource with new value, rather than simply disposing of them.
On the other hand, Tamagawa Gakuen, which upholds "respect for nature" as its educational credo, has created a satoyama environment on its campus through tree-planting activities that have continued since its founding in 1929. However, many of the trees have reached the point of renewal and need to be properly managed through thinning. The school aims to contribute to the preservation of the global environment in the future by connecting the maintenance of such trees on campus with learning through the "circle of trees.
With this agreement, trees in the city, which have been considered a management issue, will be transformed into an educational resource. This is not just a simple utilization of trees, but an initiative that will lead to the development of the next generation of human resources, which is a major step toward the recycling of local resources and the creation of a sustainable society.
Reference Links
Business collaboration agreement signed with Tamagawa Gakuen Educational Corporation / Machida City Official Website
Tamagawa Gakuen Educational Corporation] Machida City and Tamagawa Gakuen Educational Corporation have concluded a new cooperation agreement for resource circulation projects to promote tree-related initiatives in the "Machida Tree Utilization Project" and the "Tamagawa Mokurin Project".
