Tomorrow is the "International Orangutan Day"

Protesting against the palm oil-fired power plant that one of the leading travel agencies in Japan, H.I.S. Co., Ltd. is currently constructing in Kakuda-city, Miyagi Prefecture, Friends of the Earth Japan, together with other environmental NGOs submitted 148,588 signatures to H.I.S. on July 30th (more information can be found from here: http://www.foejapan.org/en/forest/190730.html

Thank you very much for signing on the petition!

However, H.I.S. unfortunately still doesn't listen to our voices. We requested them to have a meeting with us to hand the signatures directly and also to exchange opinions, but they rejected our request. We therefore mailed the signatures but they still haven’t responded. To a reporter’s interview, H.I.S. questioned the liability of our signatures, saying, “We will take the signatures sincerely but the overseas site that gathered signatures is not checking on double-counting.”

Based on this we are really not sure if H.I.S. is going to take our signatures “sincerely.” Now, that the International Orangutan Day is coming up, to have our voices actually heard and to protest tropical forests, biodiversity as well as our planet, we ask you to do the followings!

1.    SHARE THE PETITION!

We already submitted signatures on August 30th but the number of signatures has been continuously increasing since then. We are therefore planning to submit the ones we newly collected again. With your passionate message, post it and share it anywhere people might see! The campaign websites:

1. Change.org (Japanese and English): https://www.change.org/p/mr-hideo-sawada-chairman-ceo-h-i-s-co-ltd-his-japan-hisecotourism-do-not-construct-the-palm-oil-power-plant-that-ruins-tropical-forests-via-foejapan

2. Rainforest Rescue website(English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Dutch): https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1179/palm-oil-is-not-green-fuel-stop-the-trip-to-destruction 

 For example,

“A major Japanese travel agency, H.I.S. is constructing a power plant that plans to use palm oil as its main fuel! Palm oil production has been criticized all over the world for its environmental impacts, and will contribute to further acceleration of climate change. Let’s protect our planet! You can sign on the petition from https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1179/palm-oil-is-not-green-fuel-stop-the-trip-to-destruction #StopHIS #NOtoPalmOil”

“While a lot of countries began strengthening the regulations on palm oil, in Japan a Japanese leading travel agency H.I.S. began constructing a power plant that plans to burn palm oil. Let’s sign on the petition and raise our voice! From here: https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1179/palm-oil-is-not-green-fuel-stop-the-trip-to-destruction #StopHIS #NOtoPalmOil”

“A popular travel agency in Japan, H.I.S. is now constructing a power plant in Miyagi Prefecture that plans to use palm oil as its main fuel. Palm oil production destroys tropical forests and emits a lot of greenhouse gasses. Sign on the petition and tell H.I.S. to stop the construction! From here: https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1179/palm-oil-is-not-green-fuel-stop-the-trip-to-destruction #StopHIS #NOtoPalmOil”

2.    TWEET ABOUT IT!

H.I.S. has several accounts on Twitter that its staff regularly posts and watches. Such as:

H.I.S. official account: @HIS_japan

H.I.S. Eco Tour desk: @hisecotourism

H.I.S. Volunteer Study Tour desk: @his_vol_study

H.I.S. West Japan: @HIS_kix

Mention their accounts and tell them our concerns! Such as:

“@HIS_japan @hisecotourism @his_vol_study please do not destroy tropical forests, our planet, as we as our future with your palm oil-fired power plant #StopHIS #NOtoPalmOil”

“@HIS_japan is constructing a power plant that plans on using palm oil as its fuel. When they are doing ‘eco-tours’ @hisecotourism can they also use palm oil and destroy tropical forests? Please listen to our voices! #StopHIS #NOtoPalmOil”

“A leading Japanese travel agency, @HIS_japan @hisecotourism @HIS_kix has been constructing a palm oil-fired power plant. They even refused to receive our signatures directly! Please listen to our voices and stop destructing tropical forests! #StopHIS #NOtoPalmOil”

“When climate change has been more severe, a major Japanese travel agency, @HIS_japan @hisectourism @HIS_kix has been constructing a palm oil-fired power plant. Stop the trip to destruction of tropical forests and our future! #StopHIS #NOtoPalmOil”

We created some images you can add to your tweets! Get them here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1laNsO6NuePjJ18vfeaekR-l5FBLFOZci

3.    Fill IN THE INQUIRY FORM!

H.I.S. has its inquiry form on their website. Fill it in and have your voice heard! All the inquiries in this kind of forms will be delivered to the appropriate office and shared among the colleagues!

From here : https://www.hisgo.com/us/inquiry/?_ga=2.179972141.880598988.1565164148-943156054.1565164148

4.    CALL THEM AND TELL YOUR CONCERN DIRECTLY!

If you would like to tell them your concern directly, you can call your local office! The telephones are:

Germany                (+49) 69 5600 510
France                    (+33)  01-5305-3401
Great Britain   (+44)    020-7484-3313
Brazil                      (+55)   11-3181-7670
Spain                       (+34)   91-559-5239
USA                          (+1)    808-923-3412
Switzerland         (+41)    043-816-4941
Austria  (+43)  1-587-1073
Belgium                 (+32)    0492 88 39 68
Canada  (+1)     604-685-3504
Australia               (+61)   02-9154-7610
Mexico  (+52)      998-887-9928
Netherlands    (+31)       020-472-0444
Portugal                 (+351)       21-845-1008

Or find your local office here! : https://www.his-j.com/ovsbranch/english.html

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US PROTECT OUR PLANET AND FUTURE!!