Recognition
November 20, 2025
Canon Bird Branch Project Wins Good Design Award for Fiscal 2025
Canon's biodiversity conservation initiative, the Canon Bird Branch Project, has won a Fiscal 2025 Good Design Award.
The Good Design Award is Japan's leading design evaluation and recommendation program, established in 1957. The project received the Good Design Award in the Initiative and Activity for the General Public category for its commitment to harmonizing corporate activities with the natural environment.
Canon recognizes that biodiversity conservation is essential for achieving a sustainable society and has established a group-wide Biodiversity Policy under which it pursues various conservation activities.
In 2015, Canon launched the Canon Bird Branch Project as a symbolic initiative based on this policy, with birds as its theme. Birds can be observed at locations around the world, including urban areas, and serve as symbols of life positioned at the top of the ecosystem pyramid composed of plants, insects, small animals, and other lifeforms.
The project began with a wild bird survey conducted on the company’s headquarters grounds in 2014 and has been promoted at sites in Japan and overseas since 2015 under the supervision of the Wild Bird Society of Japan. In the 10 years since, Canon has continually worked to conserve biodiversity by creating natural environments rooted in local communities.
Today, 59 Canon Group sites in Japan and overseas participate in these activities, creating habitats for wild birds and conducting surveys at each location. For example, at Canon's headquarters, monthly bird surveys are conducted at Shimomaruko Forest, a green zone on the grounds, and the number of confirmed wild bird species has increased from 23 in 2014 to 45.
Overseas, Canon China holds bird watching events led by experts jointly with two group companies, while Canon U.S.A. holds Bird Watching Walks where employees stroll the grounds with experts to observe wild birds. These are just some of the diverse activities taking place around the world.
These efforts contribute to the global "30 by 30" target, which aims to effectively conserve at least 30% of the Earth's land and sea as healthy ecosystems by 2030. In Japan, this has led to certification by the Ministry of the Environment as a "Sustainably Managed Natural Site." At Shimomaruko Forest on Canon's headquarters grounds, certified in 2023, the company continuously develops an environment conducive to habitation by wild birds, conducts regular surveys, and shares information through its website in an environment with nearly 1,000 trees representing approximately 80 species. Wild birds that have been confirmed so far include peregrine falcons and cinereous tits.
Going forward, Canon will continue its biodiversity conservation activities in collaboration with local communities as it strives for coexistence with nature.
