Land management

We are responsible for managing areas of land we own or lease that are protected by legislation or other mechanisms. We manage our land in a productive and sustainable manner ensuring proactive stewardship of our landholdings, including those that have not undergone industrial activity. We identify, record and protect in alignment with local regulatory requirements, and we also consider best practice, cultural heritage and archaeologically sensitive locations on our landholdings.

We require our industrial assets to establish a robust environmental and socio-economic knowledge base and to develop risk-based biodiversity action plans and site-level biodiversity targets to drive progress in this important area. These plans can include measures such as preliminary clearing works, habitat relocation, flora and fauna conservation, invasive species control and fire and grazing management. Where possible, we require the plans to support the continuation or enhancement of land practices that benefit local communities, such as grazing and other agricultural activities, while considering impacts to ecosystems. 

We are committed to not conducting any exploration, drilling or mining in World Heritage areas and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) category I-IV protected areas (‘no-go’ areas), and to not putting the integrity of such properties at risk. Our industrial assets work to avoid the loss of any IUCN Red List threatened species.

Our industrial assets are required to define physical and operational boundaries for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services and undertake biodiversity and ecosystem services baseline studies for use in the completion of risk assessments. These form the basis for the management of biodiversity-related risks and opportunities, including natural capital (ecosystem services) and nature-based solutions, together with consideration of relevant emerging requirements.

Where relevant, our industrial assets are conducting biodiversity footprint assessments and evaluating how they can achieve no net loss of biodiversity by closure against a 2020 baseline. Where possible, we do this by implementing the mitigation hierarchy and offsetting impacts that cannot be mitigated or restored. 

Developing biodiversity targets

We are in the process of establishing biodiversity targets for our industrial assets, aiming to complete this exercise by the end of 2025.

Our internal working group of subject matter experts collaborates on our approach to biodiversity management. In South Africa, we have partnered with the Endangered Wildlife Trust to develop a permanent training programme in line with the Biological Diversity Protocol (BD Protocol). The BD Protocol is a comprehensive biological diversity accounting and reporting framework, and we have adopted it to implement a consistent methodology and accounting approach for biodiversity.

The training programme supports our internal understanding of biodiversity and strengthens internal capacity to deliver biodiversity targets based on a standardised biodiversity accounting framework. The training should enable us to establish methodical biodiversity targets based on each industrial asset’s biodiversity context, and to work towards creating auditable biodiversity footprint assessments.

Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)

We have actively participated, through the ICMM, in reviews and pilot programmes that have supported the testing, iteration and refinement of recommendations from the TNFD. We have incorporated various elements of the TNFD recommendations into our environmental governance framework, such as the TNFD’s LEAP  (locate, evaluate, assess, and prepare) approach. 

In 2023, we started to utilise the TNFD’s LEAP approach. Using this approach, we have ‘located’ our industrial sites within or adjacent to areas of high ecosystem integrity, key biodiversity areas, areas of water stress or significant cultural, heritage or economic sites. We have determined priority sites through a multi-criterion ranking process.

In addition, we have ‘evaluated’ and ‘assessed’ the impacts and dependencies considering the BD Protocol and using applicable global tools. The assessments identify ecosystems and their condition. We also conducted high-level screening and materiality assessments of dependencies at each industrial asset.

We are evaluating the dependencies for each of these industrial sites and assess their risks and opportunities. The results from the LEAP assessment will form part of our strategy for nature. 

Nature-based solutions that have been identified include quality and maintenance of water flows, provision of food and shelter, control of pests and disease, purification of atmospheric gases, mass stabilisation and erosion control, and climate regulation. Many of our industrial assets have existing strategic partnerships in place to protect or restore habitat areas, including partnerships with communities.

Where we own or lease land adjacent to protected areas or high biodiversity areas outside of protected areas, we require the relevant industrial assets to have completed biodiversity risk assessments and have biodiversity management plans in place where required. 
 
Our industrial assets located within or near areas identified as having a high biodiversity value include:

Asia

Australia and New Caledonia

Africa 

Europe

South America

North America

Before the works started, the marsh had deteriorated considerably since the first study was carried out in 2004, and without intervention it would have deteriorate to a level where it would have not supported the protected species any longer. The Habitat Management Plan included, for example, creating a new open water area exclusively for birds, and egg-laying sites for grass snakes.

Ongoing maintenance activities are carried out, like cutting reed beds and bankside vegetation to preserve natural habitats, and removal of shrub to create sheltered conditions for invertebrates and basking locations for reptiles. The marshland is open to the local community, and local schools use it for educational field trips. It includes features such as a looped Nature Walk with information boards, benches, picnic table and a large grass area suitable for football.

In 2019, an ecological survey found that the area has become home to a new resident – the water vole. This was a fantastic development, as the water vole is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority species and protected by wildlife legislation.

Furthermore, bird surveys and bird ringing campaigns confirmed the positive trend on the variety and quantity of birds visiting and nesting on the Marsh, including legally protected species. The site has become a local spot for birdwatching with sightings being recorded online.