Preserving Loggerhead Turtle Spawning Beaches

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC)

Creating a beach environment conducive to spawning by loggerhead turtles

Surrounded by the ocean, sand dunes, and hills, Omotehama beach on the Atsumi Peninsula of Aichi Prefecture is known as a spawning site for loggerhead turtles. Unfortunately, the beach's ecosystem is now in jeopardy as a result of growing coastal erosion by a decrease in the volume of earth and sand deposited by the Tenryu River. Since April 2011, employees from the Tahara Plant, located near the Omotehama coast, have joined the efforts of two local NPOs, Omotehama Network and Akabane Juku, to assist in making and planting erosion-prevention hedges made of bamboo and wood thinned from forests. More than 100 employees with family members attended the first event. In August, the volunteers gathered to confirm the effectiveness of the hedges and observed the release of a turtle into the ocean.