Tokyo Electron Kyushu celebrated its 20th anniversary by planting trees on Mt. Tawara in Aso to create a forest to protect the watershed. Watershed protection forests play an important role in water conservation and water purification, and these forests are called green dams. The headwaters of the six major rivers running through the five prefectures in the central and northern parts of Kyushu are located in the Mt. Aso area where the trees were planted, and at least three million people are supplied with water from these rivers. In recent years, however, the volume of spring water has been decreasing due to a decline in the amount of water retained caused by urbanization and use of water for farmland. The company's employees and family members planted trees to increase the amount of water retained, with 1,000 broadleaf trees, including mountain maple, wild cherry, and sawtooth, on land extending over 0.8 acres. The planting activity will be conducted over a time span of five years (three years for planting and two years for growing). Some participants commented that they enjoyed sharing this activity with family members and that the act of planting trees gave them an opportunity to think more about the environment.