AEON Environmental Foundation (Chairman: Takuya Okada, Honorary Chairman and Advisor of AEON Co., Ltd) conducted the fourth tree planting project around Hlawga Lake, adjacent to Yangon City in Myanmar on 16 July 2016.

We conducted a 3-year tree planting project in Myanmar from 2013 to 2015, and planted 24,000 trees around PyuGyi Reservoir near Yangon City along with 2,700 volunteers.  In 2016, the tree planting project was organized for the fourth time, and the project site was moved to near Hlawga Lake.  The project will continue for the next three years at this site.

Hlawga Lake has been utilized by local residents as a source of domestic water.  The tree planting project in July 2016 was conducted in order to regain watershed conservation function* and secure the storage capacity, as well as enrich the forests around the lake.  It is expected that the fine balance between Hlawga Lake and its forests will be maintained and that the lake water will be sustainably used by the residents.

In this project, we planted 10,000 native trees of six species along with 1,600 volunteers from Japan and Myanmar.  One participant said, “I was glad to plant the trees as it leads to nature conservation.”  Another said, “I think that the air would also be clean as the trees grow – global warming and natural disasters will be alleviated by the forests.”

The Foundation will further endeavor to implement environmental conservation efforts, including tree planting in order to deliver a lush natural environment for the youth of the next generation.

*Watershed conservation function: The soil in the forest stores rainwater, helping to regulate water flow in the rivers, lakes, and swamps, and prevent floods and drought.

Notes
Date: 16 July 2016
Location: Around Hlawga Lake located in the suburb of Yangon, Myanmar
Participants: 1,600 volunteers (1,100 from Myanmar and 500 from Japan)
The number of trees: 10,000 (Six species: Mahogany, Olive, Kaie, Teak, Monkey Pod, Golden Shower)
Hosts: Union of Myanmar Yangon City Development Committee, AEON Environmental Foundation
Cooperation: AEON Co., Ltd., AEON MICROFINANCE (Myanmar) Co., Ltd., AEON MALL CO., LTD.  

AEON Press Release
https://www.aeon.info/common/images/en/pressroom/imgsrc/160711R_2.pdf