Biodiversity
Xstrata operates in a wide variety of environments with varying degrees of ecological sensitivity. Some of our sites are located in biodiversity-rich areas that are home to endemic and threatened species.
It is unavoidable that exploration and mining will have some effect on landscape functions, but we aim to avoid net losses or degradation of natural habitats, biodiversity and landscape functions such as watershed and microclimate management. In 2009, our activities disturbed nearly 2,900 hectares of land, and we rehabilitated over 1,100 hectares.
All Xstrata-managed operations have implemented a biodiversity conservation plan to protect species and landscape functions throughout their life cycle. We are committed to rehabilitating and restoring the land we manage once our mining and exploration activities have ceased. Each operation's plan is tailored according to its location, the proximity of any protected or high biodiversity value areas, and its activities.
Biodiversity and land management is especially critical for coal mining, which uses more land than metallurgical operations and can cause subsidence. We conduct ongoing rehabilitation at open cut mines, as our activities move progressively within a land lease. The importance of biodiversity management for Xstrata Coal will continue to grow as it expands towards biodiversity-rich areas, for example, at Mangoola and Wandoan in Australia and Cerrejon in Colombia. Although they use less land, our metallurgical businesses have an impact on less visible landscape functions such as water quality, and require the rehabilitation of waste rock dumps and open cut pits at the end of their life.
As a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals, we do not explore or mine in World Heritage listed sites. No Xstrata sites are located adjacent to World Heritage sites and none of our operations are located within protected areas. However, several sites are located adjacent to protected areas, or within or adjacent to biodiversity-rich areas.