Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas

About the Program
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas encompasses 2,000 acres in San Antonio, Texas. The facility consists of manufacturing facilities and assembly lines to produce light-duty trucks. The Toyota Corporation’s environmental objectives seek to ensure all their facilities operate in harmony with nature through promotion of biodiversity, conservation of pollinators, removal of invasive species and the education of their employees and local community. To support these objectives in San Antonio, the team manages a 76.36-acre native grassland and a 0.7- acre landscaped pollinator garden to support native wildlife and pollinators.

Practices and Impacts

• The 0.7-acre Texas native pollinator garden replaced grass with native wildflowers and shrubs to support pollinators and wildlife, with particular interest given to monarch butterfly populations.
• The pollinator garden used assessments from Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists on the design, soil and plants selected. Weekly maintenance is conducted. Team members monitor native plants, particularly milkweed and purple coneflower, which are emphasized because of their importance to the declining monarch butterfly population.
• The site also controls for invasive plants like mesquite tree populations.
• The 76.36-acre grassland replaced low habitat value on site with an abundance of native Texas forbs and grasses to support pollinators and other wildlife species. Species present include silver bluestem grass, common sunflower and Texas bluebell. The grassland is managed with adaptive mowing occurring once a year. Vegetation monitoring occurs at least once a year through vegetation transects. The monitoring is performed by a team member alongside a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist who provides quantitative data. Pollinator surveys are done through visual observation and recorded onto the iNaturalist app. The grassland serves as a monarch butterfly waystation, providing the necessary resources as monarchs traverse the region. Team members monitor twice a year, as well as during a monarch-tagging event with partner participation from Audubon Mitchell Lake.
• The team is working to restore Bermuda grass and mesquite to provide habitat for horned lizards, being planned to be released in the future.