“The Taiga Forum” was launched in December 2009,with the objective of handing the Taiga along the Russian coast to future generations.It followed the initiatives of 16 experts in various fields, including the writer Mr. C.W. Nicol,?and was established jointly by Ricoh, Patagonia Japan, FoE Japan and Global Environmental Forum.

The objective of “The Taiga Forum” is to explore what we can do?to leave the forests of the Taiga for future generations.?The Taiga Forum is a free forum that invites people to participate,?by providing a “place” for people to find out about the environment and people of the Taiga,?how it is connected with Japan, the conditions of the forests, and the threats they are facing.

The Taiga Forum implements the following projects in order to support the wildlife and the people there?so that they can continue their current traditional lifestyle as users and protectors of the Taiga.?One of our goals is to have the Bikin River basin (11,500 km2) listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

<Main Activities>

1. Communicate to the world about: the rich biodiversity and importance of the Taiga, how local residents feel about the Taiga, and the relationship between the Taiga and Japan
2. Support ranger activities carried out by indigenous people, tourism efforts to publicize the Taiga, and fair trade in arts and crafts as well as non- timber forest products
3. Lobby the Government of Russia and the international community to push for World Heritage listing of the upper ? middle Bikin River basin (through collaboration with local people including indigenous people and NGOs)

＜Leaders＞

We ask people from civil society, academia, the private sector and NGOs to share information on how important The Taiga and the Bikin River basin are and to promote the cause in their own fields.

Our “Leaders” are those who share the objective of the Taiga Forum and are willing to help and work together with the Forum.? We ask people from the civil society, academia, private sector and NGOs to share information on how important the Taiga and the Bikin River basin are, and to promote the cause in their own field.

（As of December 20, 2009, random order）

• Naoki ADACHI （President, Response Ability, Inc.）
• Anne McDONALD（Director, UNU-IAS Operating Unit Ishikawa/Kanazawa）
• Noritaka ICHIDA （Vice Chairman, Birdlife International.? Chairman, Birdlife Asia）
• Kenji ITO (Photographer)
• Masahide KIYAMA (Professor, Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Graduate School of Fisheries, Hokkaido University)
• Akihiro KAKIZAWA （Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University）
• Mitsuru KIKUMA （Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University）
• C.W. Nicol (Writer.? Chairman, C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust）
• Masatsugu TANIGUCHI （President, Resource and Environmental Strategy Design Office.? Resource and Environmental Journalist）
• Tatsuo TANI （元Associate Director & Division General Manager, Corporate Environment Division / Executive Chief Engineer, Ricoh Company, ltd.）
• Toshiro TSUMAGARI（Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaido University）
• Kazuo TERASHIMA（President, Nature Conservation Society of Mt.Daisetsu and the Ishikari）
• Toru NAKASHIZUKA （Professor, Guraduate School of Life Science, Tohoku University.? Leader, Ecosystem Adaptability Global COE, Tohoku University）
• Takashi HIRANO（ Executive Director, Global Environmental Forum）
• Tadahiro MITSUHASHI（Professor, Faculty of Policy Informatics, Chiba University of Commerce）
• Randal HELTEN（Director, FoE Japan）

Please click the link in order to see individual messages.

＜History of Activities and Future Schedule＞

2009

• Launching event: “What is the Taiga?” Series seminar: People’s Biodiversity 4 “From The Taiga forest in Far East Russia” was held. (2&4 December)
• Participation at Eco Products 2009 (December)
• Official website of the Taiga Forum “The Taiga Forest Blog” started. (20 December)

2010

• Activities of “The Taiga Forum” introduced in the magazine “+ING” (summer edition, +ING Press)
• First shooting of the documentary film “Messages from the Taiga” (June)
• Workshop on “fun learning” of the biodiversity of the Taiga at the Eco Idea Workshop at the Panasonic Center in Tokyo (19-20 June)
• Held a booth at Tokyo Concours d’Elegance, a classic car event (http://www.concours.jp) at Tokyo Metropolitan Shiokaze Park. Publicity of our activities and the sale of campaign goods, etc. (22-25 July)
• Held “Seminar to learn about World Heritage listing” for local residents of Krasny Yar. The seminar was organized together with the village administration office and the hunting association. Survey relating to the awareness of the value of the Taiga and Bikin River and the protection of them targeting local residents. (August)
• Second and Third shooting of the documentary film “Messages from the Taiga” (August & September)
• Launch of a trailer of the documentary film “Messages from the Taiga”
• Communicating our message at CBD COP10 (11-29 October)
• TAIGA Installation @+ING attic, Tokyo (29 November-8 December)
• Participation @Eco-Products 2010 (9-11 December)

2011

• TAIGA Installation @World Bank Tokyo (18-29 January)
• Shooting of the documentary film “Messages from the Taiga” (February & May)

＜Steering Committee＞(Alphabetical Order)

Kazuyuki KISHI / Ricoh Co., Ltd.
Junichi MISHIBA / FoE Japan
Yuki SAKAMOTO / Global Environmental Forum
Kenji SHINO / Patagonia Inc. Japan

<Staff>

Eiichiro NOGUCHI / Taiga Forum
Youki MIKAMI / abovo
Kiichiro KIMURA / abovo

<Contact>

Please contact below for inquiries about The Taiga Forum.

WEB：http://taigaforum.jp
Email：info@taigaforum.jp
TEL：03-3813-9735
FAX：03-3813-9737

＜How We Work＞

The above four organizations are the members of the Steering Committee of The Taiga Forum and we work in collaboration.? FoE Japan began a conservation project in Far East Russia in 1994, earlier than most NGOs in Japan.? Global Environmental Forum promotes forest conservation through its awareness-raising campaign by facilitating Fairwood procurement.? Ricoh Co., Ltd. has been working on a conservation project called “Conservation of the Taiga, the Northern Limit Habitat of Tigers”, in partnership with FoE Japan since 2004.? Patagonia has publicized works about the wildlife of the Taiga through publications etc. to its customers who visit its stores.

＜Donation by＞

Mitsui Bussan Environmental Fund
Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund