Displaying items by tag: biodiversity

Spain: Votorantim Cimentos España’s has begun its implementation of a biodiversity management plan at its Alconera, Extremadura, cement plant in collaboration with sustainability charity Fundación Tormes-EB, local press has reported. The plan will analyse existing and potential habitats across square areas of the entire site of the 1.6Mt/yr plant. Votorantim Cimentos España and Fundación Tormes-EB have previously collaborated on biodiversity projects at two other sites in neighbouring Andalusia since 2017.

Votorantim Cimentos España’s director of sustainability Mario Pinto said "We consider it strategic to implement biodiversity management plans in our facilities because it means guaranteeing the conservation, improvement and enhancement of the natural wealth of industrial land, and confirms the compatibility of cement production with the protection of the natural environment and local ecosystems.”

The subsidiary of Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos gained control of the Alconera cement plant upon its acquisition of Cementos Balboa in late 2021.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has announced a five-year in-kind donation with the Nicomekl Enhancement Society (NES) in British Columbia. The agreement will see the building materials producer donate around US$15,000/yr in aggregates, concrete and labour to enhance the sustainability of the wild Pacific salmon population and ecosystem within the coastal area of the Nicomekl River.

Lincoln Kyne, Vice President and General Manager of Lafarge Canada in British Columbia and the US Pacific Northwest, said, “This key initiative led by NES is a great example, as we will be able to provide the required green construction materials and labour to stabilise, re-shore and line critical spawning beds for returning salmon until 2028.”

India: Ecologists have established a connection between the activities of cement plants in Khrew, Kashmir, and massive disruptions to local red deer herds. The deer, known locally as hangul, are now mainly restricted to one national park throughout their 600km-long historic range. Scroll News has reported that Khrew, where eight cement plants are situated, adjoins forest forming an important corridor for hanguls. Local conservation campaigners say that cement plants' incursion on traditional grazing land has driven farmers' herds into this ecologically important forest.

Some zoologists class the hangul as a species in its own right. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature categorises the animal as critically endangered.

Sri Lanka: INSEE Cement and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) have signed a memorandum (MoU) of understanding to extend their global biodiversity management partnership until 2026. Projects include quarry restoration, wildlife rescue and release and field surveys of the Koggala and Aruwakkalu mangrove restoration sites and Unawatuna manmade coral reef.

INSEE Cement's environment and corporate social responsibility manager Rohan Lakmal said "Biodiversity is one of the fundamental pillars of INSEE's Sustainability Ambition 2030. Our partnership with IUCN enables INSEE Cement to meet our own ambitious sustainability targets, while also creating more awareness of the general decline in Sri Lanka's biodiversity, and the urgency to do our part to conserve our natural habitats."

Europe: The European cement industry association Cembureau has published its 2030 Biodiversity Roadmap. The roadmap sets out the association’s strategy for becoming nature positive by 2030. This consists of four focus areas, namely participation in the European Union (EU) Pollinators Initiative, control of invasive species, support for protected species and ecosystem rehabilitation efforts.

Chief executive officer Koen Coppenholle said “The European cement industry is committed to achieving the goals set in the EU Green Deal. In addition to climate change, one of the key priorities of our industry is to protect and preserve the rich ecosystems thriving in and around our quarries and to make a strong contribution to biodiversity across the EU.”

Spain: FYM will host 350 pupils from Malaga's primary schools on its Feet on the Ground sustainability awareness initiative. The initiative consists of using digital resources and fieldwork to explore Malaga's biodiversity. It will highlight the work of HeidelbergCement's Spanish quarry restoration partner Tormes Foundation. FYM said that the initiative is part of its strategy to improve quality of life and the environment in areas where it operates, informed by transparency and dialogue with host communities.

Canada: Lafarge Canada, part of Holcim, has contributed US$100,000 to a conservation effort undertaken in the sensitive Great Lakes region as a partner with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). In the future Lafarge Canada will provide additional support to enhance the conserved land's biodiversity and educational value.

At US$16m, the NCC's Manitoulin Island acquisition is one of its largest-ever in Ontario. Covering 7608 hectares, the Vidal Bay Forests and Shoreline property connects with adjacent conservation lands to form a protected area of more than 248km² of forests, wetlands and shoreline, the largest of its kind south of the Canadian Shield in Ontario. Lafarge has a nearby 1640 hectare quarry in Meldrum Bay with two nearby international shipping terminals that service Ontario and the US.

Croatia: Volunteers from Cemex collaborated with the Agricultural and Veterans’ Cooperative Lintar and local school pupils to harvest 6.5t of olives from the site of its rehabilitated Split quarry in Split-Dalmatia. The company says that the winter crop produced 900l of olive oil.

Cemex’s Europe, Middle East and Africa corporate affairs, sustainability and environmental resources manangement vice president Andrew Spencer said “We recognise that our industry has consequences for the environment, but Cemex is working hard to actively counteract climate change and this drive is present through all aspects of our business. In our cement and aggregate quarrying operations across Europe, we restore and recultivate our sites to provide optimal conditions that are managed well to deliver for biodiversity.” He added “Our vision is of a successful, sustainable Cemex that makes a positive contribution to people and the environment.”

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement has signed a cooperation agreement with the National Center for the Development of Vegetation Cover and Combating Desertification to rehabilitate vegetation cover. The arrangement is intended to reduce desertification and restore biodiversity in natural environments in line with the country’s 2030 vision. Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Sultan, Governor of the Northern Borders Region A attended the signing ceremony.

UK/Ireland: Mannok has launched a comprehensive biodiversity report, the Natural Assets Action Plan, in partnership with the conservationist group Ulster Wildlife. The report examines the entirety of the company’s landholdings, which span 800ha on both sides of the EU/UK border. Habitats include grasslands, wetlands, woodlands, ponds and quarries. The report will provide a roadmap for the conservation, restoration and enhancement of each area of land to help Mannok to meet its sustainability targets. Key aims include increasing biodiversity awareness among Mannok staff, customers and local communities, improving biodiversity monitoring, maximising carbon absorption in soil and vegetation, rewilding the natural landscape and ensuring resilience to predicted climate change effects.

Chief executive officer Liam McCaffrey said “This report informs our understanding of the value of natural assets to the business and wider community and will help guide our long-term planning and strategic investment decisions in a way which aims to maintain and enhance those assets. Already it has started to change our perspectives of what was previously considered wasteland. Now, we can see opportunities for careful and considered restoration into valuable natural assets for the future. Additionally, the work involved in creating the plan has allowed us to focus on the whole area of carbon mitigation in ways which we would not have considered before. The way in which we are looking at carbon reduction through careful management of our land is a relatively novel concept in industry, but we now recognise it as a critical tool in the fight against climate change.”

He added “The report is full of very valuable recommendations on what we can practically do over the next three - five years and beyond to continue enhancing and restoring our land assets, and we are very much committed to delivering on this. We will commit resources, time, people and finances to develop the recommendations.”