Since the need to conserve biodiversity is less well known
than the needs to address climate change and waste management,
efforts are underway to make biodiversity conservation
a mainstream part of environmental activities around
the world.
In general, mentioning biodiversity conservation may remind
one of, say, protecting the tropical rainforests in the
Amazon valley or preserving satoyama far from urban areas.
When working to establish an ecosystem network with
business and production sites as the core and to conserve
rare flora and fauna ex-situ, Toshiba Group attempts to carry
out straightforward initiatives that are close to its employees
and their families as well as to local residents so that
they can work on such initiatives together. Toshiba Group
believes that allowing people to make contact with nature
and touch living organisms in their daily lives, whether they
are in office districts, residential areas, or industrial zones,
leads to a change in biodiversity awareness, which in turn
provides a shortcut to mainstreaming biodiversity.
Human society benefits from ecosystems; these blessings
from nature are known as “ecosystem services.” Ecosystem
services can be divided into three broad categories: provisioning,
regulating, and cultural.