Perryville plant looking for tree-planting volunteers

A Perryville, Missouri, manufacturer of automobile parts is looking for volunteers to help plant more than 20,000 trees in May.

TG Missouri began a multistep project last year based on the method of a Japanese botanist and plant ecology expert who visited Perryville in August to meet with local business and civic leaders.

TG Missouri, a division of Toyoda Gosei, makes steering wheels, air bags, side molding and interior and exterior plastic trim components for automobiles. The company's Perryville campus has over 1,200 employees.

During the fall, the company identified and prepared ground in front of its facility for tree planting, according to a recent release from TG Missouri. The company is recruiting "planting leaders" to oversee 10- to 15-person teams of volunteers who will plant 22,000 trees in front of the TG Missouri facility in 2 1/2 hours May 17. The company needs about 2,000 community volunteers and will hold a training session on the project Wednesday.

The project is called the second North American Afforestation Planting. Afforestation is establishing a forest in an area where there was no forest, and the practice is believed to help prevent erosion, increase water supply, provide habitat for wildlife and reduce carbon dioxide in the air, according to information on Toyoda Gosei's afforestation projects. The company also has worked on or is working on afforestation projects at other locations, including in Japan, China, Vietnam and Thailand.

Akira Miyawaki, director of the Japanese Center for International Studies in Ecology, is leading the project and, according to Toyoda Gosei, has planted tens of millions of trees using his method.

More information on the project is available at tgmissouri.com/afforestation.

Pertinent address:

2200 Plattin Road, Perryville, MO