Before I begin my New Year’s greetings, I would like to express my sincere condolences to the many people who lost their lives and those affected, including those who were forced to live in evacuation shelters in the Noto Peninsula earthquake of 2024, which caused tremendous damage and loss of life.

Now, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year in 2024.

The Kyoto Model Forest Movement, which we have been promoting together with our stakeholders, is steadily gaining momentum thanks to the support and cooperation of a wide range of citizens, including businesses and organizations that participate in the movement, as well as communities and volunteer groups operating in various parts of the prefecture.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported our activities, and we will strive to make the movement even more widely known and valued by the public.

In May of last year, the government categorized the coronavirus infection as a category five, which means day-to-day infection prevention became voluntary efforts based on individual measures. We would like to express our gratitude to all those who have been involved in our campaign, including corporate participation, and for their creative efforts in resuming their activities.

ast year, due in part to El Niño, we experienced extremely high temperatures worldwide, causing crop damage and water shortages in Japan due to low rainfall. In Canada and Europe, the dry weather has caused serious problems, such as wide-spreading wildfires in forests.

Furthermore, the crucial roles of forests are drawing worldwide attention, as we could see the call at COP28 to strengthen efforts to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting the increase in global average temperature to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level, while there are continuing concerns about climate change and natural disasters.

In light of this, we firmly believe that it is becoming increasingly important for each. While considering environmental issues on a global scale, everyone should take care of forests that support our daily lives by providing various functions, such as carbon dioxide sequestration, natural disaster prevention, water source irrigation, and promoting forest conservation activities.

This year, Kyoto Model Forest Association will continue to shed light on long-lasting efforts to protect and nurture forests, and together with many more people, we aim to steadily promote activities step by step, connecting people through forests and expanding the network of minds that value the forests.
I would like to extend my best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year to all of you.

January 5, 2024
Kyoto Model Forest Association
President Takao Ando