The five beehives installed by Toyota in the Ser Caetano Forest, within the perimeter of the company’s headquarters in Vila Nova de Gaia, produced this year’s first honey harvest. The initiative, which began in 2025, also gave rise to a new space dedicated to beekeeping, to bees and the importance of these insects for biodiversity, as stated in a press release.
According to the same source, the Bee and Honey Interpretation Center was inaugurated on September 10 and occupies a two-story building designed in the shape of a honeycomb. The space presents equipment used in maintaining the hives and extracting honey, as well as content and interactive elements about the world of beekeeping.
Toyota plans to use the center for workshops and thematic training sessions, in addition to activities intended for its employees. Planned are also scheduled visits from schools and other organizations interested in learning about the work the company is doing in biodiversity.
The five beehives were installed in 2025, as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the initiative “One Toyota, One Tree,” which the company launched in 2005 with the aim of planting one tree for every new Toyota vehicle sold. According to the company, the initiative has already enabled more than 40 planting actions in mainland Portugal and the islands, including in areas affected by wildfires.
After a year of activity, the beehives produced a limited amount of multifloral honey. Toyota announced that all the revenue from the sale of this honey would be donated to social solidarity causes.
The creation of the beehives and the new center adds a component of awareness-raising and environmental education to an initiative initially focused on reforestation. The presence of bees in urban or corporate green spaces can contribute to pollination and to the maintenance of local biodiversity, although installing beehives is only one of the possible measures to support pollinators.
The “One Toyota, One Tree” initiative forms part of Toyota’s environmental policy and has been presented by the company as part of its strategy to protect nature and reduce environmental impact.
