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Plant at Kennecott copper mine

Biodiversity

Healthy ecosystems support people, livelihoods and economic prosperity. Responsible environmental management is essential to sustaining these shared resources over the long term.

Biodiversity underpins the ecosystems that support communities and the economy. Mining activities may intersect with areas of high ecological value, and our operations and adjacent communities both depend on services that ecosystems provide, such as habitat condition, clean water and air, erosion control and climate regulation. We’re committed to protecting biodiversity and we aim to achieve no net loss (NNL) at our managed operations by the end of closure. This means striking a balance between biodiversity losses and gains. 

Our Environment Standard outlines the requirements to protect priority biodiversity features for our managed assets. The standard covers the requirement to implement the mitigation hierarchy (avoid, minimise, restore, offset) throughout the mining lifecycle. This includes baseline and impact assessments, monitoring, and adaptive management. 

As ICMM members, we report our progress against the commitments outlined in the ICMM Nature Position Statement. At an asset level, we also focus on implementing applicable regulatory, lender (for example International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 6 (IFC PS6)) or other commitments.

Managing biodiversity risks

We have developed a risk framework that provides a consistent approach to how we identify, assess, manage and communicate biodiversity-related risk across our portfolio. It builds on our Environment Standard and includes a library of controls. The framework aims to verify that biodiversity management is both operationally effective and strategically aligned with our environmental commitments. Biodiversity is also incorporated within our principal environment risk.

Our framework covers 2 categories:

  • Business activities causing unacceptable biodiversity loss (company actions that have the potential to harm nature) 
    “Have we applied and documented our use of the mitigation hierarchy, including avoiding or minimising operational impacts and plans to rehabilitate or offset residual impacts?”
  • Biodiversity loss constraining business activities (declining biodiversity creates barriers for business)
    “Does the business understand how biodiversity could restrict operations?” 

We use the framework to understand our risk exposure across our portfolio at a point in time. We also compile biodiversity data for our managed assets each year. Visit the Sustainability Fact Book for more detailed information. 

The mitigation hierarchy guides our approach to managing environment and biodiversity risks and impacts across our global portfolio. This includes:

Avoidance

  • Proactively integrate biodiversity considerations into studies and planning
  • Prevent impacts through strategic site selection, design, and scheduling
  • Reduce risk of long-term impacts to priority biodiversity features and systems

Minimisation

  • Implement controls to reduce the extent and significance of impacts that cannot be fully avoided
  • Monitor and adapt practices to manage impacts throughout the project lifecycle

Rehabilitation

  • Focus on rehabilitating areas impacted by our operations
  • Establish criteria designed to restore essential values and ecosystem functions 

Offset

  • Plan and deliver measurable outcomes for residual impacts through biodiversity offsets 
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Our performance

We collect data on biodiversity and receiving environments across our operations, some of which is shared in our Sustainability Fact Book. 

View our biodiversity performance

Biodiversity stories

Aerial view of green farmland with curved mowing patterns and a small tractor working in the center.

Partnering for nature repair

How environmental planting with integrated Indigenous involvement is restoring land and creating opportunities.
A forest with tall, thin trees and low ground vegetation, with smoke drifting through the area and small flames burning along the forest floor.

Fire management with community impact

Indigenous communities are leading the way to protect Country, reduce carbon emissions and create opportunities in Arnhem Land
Denise, a botanist at Simandou, smiling and touching a leaf from tree while her teammates take her photo with a phone camera.

Discovering new species at Simandou

Preserving sacred forests and cultural heritage at Simandou

Respecting rights

Protecting biodiversity is of great importance to our stakeholders. We respect peoples’ rights to experience the benefits of thriving ecosystems and seek to understand how we can avoid or minimise impacts to biodiversity. We value partnerships for land management solutions to rehabilitate or offset residual impacts that cannot be avoided.
Employees at Richards Bay Minerals
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Examples:

  • At our Weipa operations in Far North Queensland, Australia, we set up the Land and Sea Management program, which employs Traditional Owners to help monitor and manage cultural heritage, plants and wildlife. This program enhances our shared understanding of the landscape in which we operate and enables verification and response to external pressures on nature. 
  • Independent panels create opportunities for expert review, guidance and support at some of our sites. Our joint venture SimFer Simandou Mine in Guinea has established a partnership with the IUCN Species Survival Commission – Primate Specialist Group to collaborate on the management and mitigation of impacts to chimpanzees on-site and within surrounding conservation areas such as the Pic de Fon Classified Forest, where planned infrastructure was relocated to avoid impacts to critical chimpanzee habitat. We’re also working with 18 local communities, the Government of Guinea, and to help protect and manage the Pic de Fon Classified Forest, bringing local knowledge into decisions about biodiversity, natural resources and how the forest is managed.
  • These programs and committees provide opportunities to balance the natural resource needs of local communities as part of our decision-making and management processes.
Scenic road

Partnership

Partnerships play a central role in our biodiversity management by enabling collaborative, science-based approaches to conservation across diverse ecosystems. Through alliances with governments, non-government organisations, Indigenous communities, and global organisations, we integrate traditional knowledge, enhance environmental stewardship and support nature-positive outcomes. 
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These are some of our partnerships that focus on delivering biodiversity outcomes: 

  • UNESCO Partnership for Sustainable Development – OT: Our Oyu Tolgoi operation in Mongolia collaborates with UNESCO to promote sustainable development through cultural heritage, education, and environmental stewardship. This partnership supports the creation of Mongolia’s first UNESCO Global Geopark, enhances technical and vocational education, and fosters sustainable tourism. By aligning with national development goals, the initiative empowers local communities and preserves Mongolia’s unique natural and cultural landscapes.
  • BirdLife International Partnership: We partner with to conserve critical habitats and support trial and management of effective biodiversity management strategies. By working with regional stakeholders, the partnership promotes community-led conservation and protects valuable ecosystems.

Innovation

Innovation is central to our sustainability strategy. We are committed to developing and supporting initiatives that not only protect biodiversity and cultural heritage but also foster new technologies and partnerships that deliver lasting environmental and social impact. 
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Examples:

  • At Weipa in Queensland, Australia, we’re using AI and machine learning to support research and monitoring of the vulnerable palm cockatoo. The technology can rapidly analyse thousands of camera-trap images, helping our ecologists better understand breeding behaviour and nesting success and use that knowledge to inform land management.
  • In the Pilbara, Western Australia, we’re combining GPS tracking, robotics, LiDAR, radar and AI to better understand vulnerable ghost bats and the habitats they rely on. We’re also working with Curtin University and other specialists to design and trial artificial habitats informed by research into natural caves and roosts.
  • At our Argyle operation in Western Australia, we’re using large drones to spread diverse mixes of native seeds across steep and difficult-to-access areas as we rehabilitate the former diamond mine. Monitoring shows native vegetation establishing with strong species diversity and providing habitat for wildlife, including nesting birds.
  • Across Western Cape York in Queensland, we’re partnering with Indigital and Traditional Owners to combine cultural knowledge with technologies including environmental DNA (eDNA) and LiDAR. These tools are helping communities monitor waterways and species, while building local capability to lead biodiversity monitoring and conservation on Country.
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Transparency

Sustainability reporting

We’re committed to transparent reporting and inclusive engagement, particularly with Indigenous and land-connected Peoples, to support our biodiversity commitments.
View our Sustainability Fact Book

  • Definitions

    No Net Loss (NNL): the point at which nature losses occurring as a result of our activities are balanced by proportional gains (through rehabilitation, restoration or conservation), relative to a defined baseline state.

    Baseline: for existing operations, NNL is typically measured against a baseline of 2020 or earlier; for new operations and expansions, it is measured against a pre-operational baseline. 

    Mitigation Hierarchy: used to achieve NNL through first avoiding impacts, then minimizing, followed by rehabilitation of degraded areas, and finally use of offsets or conservation gains to balance any residual losses.