By Alberto Ninio, Sustainability director, and Gleuza Jesué, Environment executive manager
The concern for biodiversity is closely tied to Vale’s existence and well translated in its Mission – "To change natural resources into prosperity and sustainable development"; in its Vision, which addresses the passion for people and for the planet; and in its Values, whose life matters most. The company is fully aware that the mining activities significantly interfere with the environment and, thus, has internalized the concept that pursuing the No Net Loss on biodiversity in its areas of operation – a commitment undertaken since 2013 – is a tangible goal, and it can also be the starting point to a broader point of view. That is, bringing positive long-term changes to biodiversity.
Therefore, Vale operates in different areas, including investments in Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I), partnerships with knowledge centers in Brazil and abroad to create solutions capable of preventing, mitigating, and offsetting impacts while offering society a new and transforming knowledge as a legacy for future generations. Vale Institute of Technology – Sustainable Development (ITV-DS, Instituto Tecnológico Vale – Desenvolvimento Sustentável), located in Belém (Pará), gathers dozens of researchers with multidisciplinary skills studying various subjects, such as environmental services, water resources, genomics, climate change, and land use. As an example, the survey on Carajás hardpan vegetation conducted by ITV-DS, together with Emílio Goeldi museum in Belém (Pará) and 140 Brazilian and foreign professionals, allowed the registration of 1,080 species that were cataloged into four volumes of the Rodriguésia magazine, published by the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro.
The company is also responsible for protecting an area that adds up to 8,500 square kilometers (850,000 hectares), 5.6 times larger than the total area occupied by its operations in Brazil. The theme of this MAIS Newsletter edition is the Vale Natural Reserve, located in the state of Espírito Santo; it has become a reference center for scientific research on biodiversity in the country, with 240 projects developed. The Iron Quadrangle region of Minas Gerais comprises 12,800 hectares of protected land in 21 Private Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPNs, Reservas Particulares do Patrimônio Natural ), which are home to more than 70 flora species threatened with extinction. Vale has already formalized a proposal to regularize 77,000 hectares of Legal Reserve, and it should soon attain 100,000 hectares for all rural properties.
Vale Fund, a public interest non-government organization (OSCIP, Organização da Sociedade Civil de Interesse Público) created in 2009, invested R$ 120 million in initiatives for three environment-related sectors in the Amazon region, contributing to the implementation and consolidation of 230,000 squared km (23,000,000 ha) of conservation units in six states, benefiting indigenous and fishing communities, among many others.
These initiatives – some among hundreds – show that the company is deeply committed to maintaining biodiversity, which is also very good for its business. For instance, Vale combines its efforts towards compliance with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the Impact Mitigation Hierarchy. This tool provides a best-practice approach to avoiding and reducing negative impacts, and then restoring areas that are no longer usedby company operations, before finally considering the possibility of offsetting the residual impacts. Thus, Vale remains in compliance with the World Bank's Performance Standards for Financial Institutions, as well as with the principles of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), which promotes access to financial resources for Vale’s expansion and environmental compensation projects
Mining and biodiversity have become interconnected, worth celebrating by both our company and the whole society.