The AEON Environmental Foundation was established in 1990, based on a vision involving a quest for peace, respect for humankind, and support to regions. Since its establishment, our Foundation has made diverse efforts in planting trees in Japan and abroad, supporting environmental NGOs and NPOs, and organizing international congresses. Regarding the tree planting, we, along with citizen volunteers, have planted about 1 million trees around the Great Wall of China. The number of trees we have planted throughout the world totals more than 2 million.

Today, the prevention of global warming and conservation of biodiversity are recognized as challenging issues at the global level. In order to resolve such issues, our Foundation established “The Japan Awards for Biodiversity” (domestic prize) and “The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity” (international prize) in 2009 and 2010, respectively, in commemoration of the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) in Nagoya, Japan. These prizes are both biennial and are awarded alternately.

The MIDORI Prize is to honour individuals who have made outstanding contributions for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity at global, regional or local levels. Since 2012, the MIDORI Prize has been co-organized with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, based on a memorandum of understanding signed by the Secretariat of CBD and our Foundation. It would be most satisfying if the MIDORI Prize could make further contributions in developing future activities and raising awareness about biodiversity at the global level.

In order to sustain our green planet for future generations, the AEON Environmental Foundation will make further efforts toward resolving the problems of biodiversity through its various activities. We would also like to contribute to promotion of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets approved at COP10 and of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, which started in 2011.

Takuya Okada
Chairman,
AEON Environmental Foundation