Biodiversity Conservation and Restoration Initiatives in Europe

In 2018, Kao Corporation Spain (KCSA) established its Biodiversity Policy as a supplement to its original Sustainability and Risk Prevention Policy. These policies demonstrate KCSA’s commitment to maintaining and promoting biodiversity, recognizing its importance for the earth’s future and growth. The Policy includes the following four commitments.

KCSA has carried out a series of activities in accordance with these commitments. The specifics of these activities have been shared with all employees to raise awareness actively.

Booklets, pamphlets, and posters have been created as educational resources for learning about biodiversity at each of KCSA’s plants, following assessments conducted in line with the Kao Group’s biodiversity standards. These resources are effectively utilized to provide information to factory visitors and raise employee awareness.

A site tour, led by two external experts in animal and plant life, was organized to promote biodiversity awareness on the company’s premises and was open to all employees. During the tour, participants installed birdhouses for wild birds such as the oriental scops owl, house sparrow, Japanese tit, and Eurasian blue tit. In addition, they also built and installed insect hotels.

Tree-planting and site tours are conducted annually to observe animal life using the birdhouses and insect hotels. Going forward, we anticipate that the biodiversity within each of its green spaces will be more appreciated, increasing the number of wildlife inhabiting the area.

In 2021, KCSA launched a new initiative to select a “Wildlife of the Year” from among the animal life that inhabits each of its sites to provide detailed information about their ecology. With the abundance of information about wildlife, focusing on one species each year would enhance the effectiveness of educational activities.
The “Wildlife of the Year” for this year is the sparrow, a bird commonly spotted at all three KCSA sites. Despite its frequent sightings, the sparrow has been facing a rapid decline worldwide in recent years. The main reason for choosing the sparrow for this year’s selection was to gain a deeper understanding of its ecology.

A quiz has been created on the intranet to provide basic information about the Wildlife of the Year, making it easy for any employee to learn about it. Additionally, a notice panel has been placed in the reception room of each plant to encourage employees to take a deeper interest in the subject and to provide a step-by-step understanding of sparrow ecology.

The wildlife for 2022 and 2023 was pampas grass, an invasive species in Spain. Information about this plant was shared through various channels such as email, posters, and screensavers. Thanks to these efforts, employees learned more about the negative effects of eradicating native plant species.

This plant had taken root in a particularly large area of the Barberà del Vallès plant. As a result, specialized company was commissioned to carry out a three-day removal operation. The area that was previously overrun by the pampas grass will be regularly monitored to prevent new seeds from re-establishing themselves.
In the future, our aim is to encourage employees to actively participate in the program by involving them in choosing the Wildlife of the Year. While the factory tour is currently suspended, this awareness program is intended for employees. Once the factory tour resumes, information will be shared to the tour participants.