Tokyo - The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that its 23 domestic and overseas locations took part in the global tree-planting campaign "Green Wave 2011." The campaign includes tree-planting and other activities around the world each year on May 22, designated by the United Nations as the International Day for Biological Diversity. Supporting this activity, the Japanese government designated the period from March 1 through June 15 as "Green Wave 2011," encouraging schools, companies, etc., to do their part. Yokohama Rubber participated for the second time, following last year.

Yokohama Rubber carried out tree-planting at nine domestic and overseas production locations – the Hiratsuka Factory, Mie, Mishima, Shinshiro, Onomichi and Ibaraki Plants in Japan, Yokohama Tire Corporation and the SAS Rubber Company in the U.S., and Yokohama Tyre Vietnam Inc. A total of 1,243 employees, local residents, etc., took part, planting 13,008 trees. The Hiratsuka Factory and Mie, Mishima and Shinshiro Plants also donated 9,714 seedlings to outside groups, with 190 employees participating in tree-planting ceremonies held around the country during the period. Another 14 domestic and overseas locations participated in watering and caring for trees that had been planted previously.

In addition, the Yokohama Forever Forest Project, launched in 2007, aims to plant a total of 500,000 trees, creating forests at domestic and overseas production sites, in anticipation of the company's 100th anniversary in 2017. Under the guidance of Dr. Akira Miyawaki, professor emeritus of Yokohama National University and a plant ecologist, Yokohama Rubber has been planting trees indigenous to each local area. About 183,000 trees were planted in Japan and overseas as of March 31, 2011. The company also affirmatively provides seedlings raised by its employees to administrations, schools and other companies, further highlighting to society the importance of preserving the global environment.