Biodiversity

Contributing to a Biodiversity Hotspot Conservation.

Vale’s Natural Reserve (RNV) is a Company’s property located in Brazil (State of Espírito Santo) which protects 23,000 hectares of Atlantic Forest, the most threatened biome of the country. This reserve works in four pillars - conservation of biological diversity and ecosystems services, scientific research, education and forest rehabilitation.

In partnership with ICMBio, Vale supports the protection of the Sooretama Biological Reserve (Rebio), amounting to about 50,000 ha.

The Reserve protects approximately 5,000 species of plants and animals of the Atlantic Forest, comprising more than 160 endangered species and 64 endemic species.

It maintains one of the largest nurseries of native seedlings of the Atlantic Forest, with the capacity to produce three million seedlings per year.

It has a world-renowned herbarium, which shares knowledge and supports research in various locations.

In RNV there is also a space for public use intended for leisure activities and environmental education hosting courses and events related to biome research.


The Eu Pesquisador project brings together researchers from projects developed in the Reserve to share knowledge, arouse interest and raise awareness among students and teachers of public schools in the region about the importance of Biodiversity. In 2019, 137 students and six teachers from three state schools in the municipality of Sooretama were involved. The Project had the partnership of the Municipal Departments of Education and Transport of Sooretama / ES and researchers from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), Pitágoras and Universidade Vila Velha (UVV) institutions

Sustainable Development Allied with Biodiversity Conservation

Over 9 years of operation, the fund has supported 54 initiatives for conservation and sustainable use of the Amazon Rainforest, allocating approximately R$ 120 million, in three work programs: Strategic Monitoring, Protected Areas and Biodiversity, and Green Cities. It has been recognized among the TOP 10 financiers of Amazon Rainforest conservation actions, in a study by the Moore Foundation. It works in a logic of cooperation with civil society organizations, many of them national and international references in sustainability, emphasizing their reputation, field presence and effective results in the Brazilian socio-environmental agenda.

The experience accrued by the Vale Fund has shown that the conservation of the Amazon Rainforest comprises the success of an economy that values the standing forest. Thus, since 2015, the Vale Fund has been striving to strengthen its strategy to support forest-based and sustainable production chains. As of 2017, its strategy is focused on fostering a socio-environmental business ecosystem. The idea is to create a more vibrant environment of sustainable business with measurable positive impacts, as well as financial instruments that leverage forest-based and low-carbon chains.

For more information on Vale Fund, access the website

Furthermore, with regard to partnerships, Vale funded conservation projects for endangered species, with emphasis on:

• “Amigos da Jubarte” (Humpback whale) Project - in partnership with Instituto O Canal, Baleia Jubarte Institute, Vitória City Hall and Espírito Santo’s Federal University.
• “Onça-pintada – the Competition project” (Jaguar), big cats coexistence and general health in the Atlantic Forest of Tabuleiro, developed in the Vale’s Natural Reserve (RNV) since 2005 and in partnership with UVV.
  
• Study of Medium and Large Mammals endangered with the use of Drone - partnership with UFV developed at Vale's protected areas in the Iron Quadrangle region.
  
• Harpia Project - partnership with UFES and INPA developed at Vale Nature Reserve.
  

Since 2010, Vale has been working - from the Executive Management of Technology and Innovation - to Sustainability - in agreements and partnerships with research fostering institutions (FAPESPA, FAPESP, FAPEMIG, among others) and universities. In 2019, several projects were developed with these institutions’ support and with various universities’ partnerships, such as UFV, UFRJ, UFES and UFMG. These include projects related to environmental rehabilitation, technology applied to study of endangered mammals and ecosystem services in protected areas.

Since 2009, Vale has the Vale Technological Institute - Mining and Sustainable Development (ITV DS) in Belém, a non-profit institution for postgraduate research and education. This institution has a group of researchers dedicated to studies related to biodiversity and ecosystem services with focus on the Carajás National Forest.

The research carried out at ITV is oriented towards social and environmental issues that challenge the mining chain, primarily in the territories where Vale operates. The Institute’s agenda focuses on biodiversity, environmental services, water resources, environmental genomics, reforestation with native species, recovery of degraded areas, climate change, occupation and use of land and socioeconomics.

In addition to research, ITV is involved in training people through the professional Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in Tropical Regions master’s program. So far, 85 masters have graduated, 45% of whom are Vale professionals. In 2019, ITV created the Resident Master’s Student Program with the purpose of boosting and influencing local professionals’ training on topics related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), offering ten scholarships.

Throughout the year, ITV contributed a total of BRL 40 million invested in 17 research initiatives with projects that contribute to biodiversity knowledge and conservation of biodiversity, such as studies of rare and endemic plant species from ferruginous rupestrian fields, rare species of bats and invertebrates, taxonomy, phenology, genomics and propagation.

“ITV works for creating future options, through scientific researches and technology development and expand Vale’s knowledge and business frontiers in a sustainable manner.”

For more information access the ITV website

In 2020, Vale joined the Brazilian Business Commitment for Biodiversity proposed by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS). We further reinforce our commitment to invest in research, conservation, environmental recovery and dissemination of the knowledge produced in our areas https://cebds.org/ibnbio/o-compromisso/.

Among the additional and voluntary actions related to the conservation of biodiversity, the Vale Zoobotanic Park (PZV), located in the National Forest of Carajás, houses a squad with 70 species of Amazonian fauna and more than 360 individuals, acting in the ex-situ conservation of endemic and endangered species. These are animals from rescues in the company's operations, in addition to apprehensions and rescues by environmental agencies.

The park works with important actions of environmental education and awareness for conservation, having received more than 90 thousand visitors in 2019, including families, schools, universities and research institutions. In addition, the PZV develops a program for the reproduction of endangered species, such as the ararajuba (Guaruba guarouba), endemic to the Brazilian Amazon and considered vulnerable to extinction. Several species' cubs have already been born in the Park and, in March 2019, three of them were reintroduced into natural areas in the city of Belém, in partnership with the Institute for Forestry and Biodiversity Development (Ideflor-bio), in the Project for the Reintroduction and Monitoring of Ararajubas in Conservation Units of RMB - Belém Mais Linda.

Access here the file.

Implications for Licensing, Mitigation, Offset, and Conservation.

In Carajás (Brazil, State of Pará, Amazon rainforest biome), Vale helps to protect 780,000 hectares of native forests and associated natural ecosystems, with approximately 7,000 species of protected plants and animals, including 50 endangered species of animals and approximately 300 endemic animals of the Amazon Rainforest, according to studies developed up to 2018. In this area, Vale creates and helps to maintain, in partnership with ICMBio, the Carajás Ferruginous Fields National Park, which comprises over 79,000 hectares of protected forests and field vegetation. This park supports the preservation of the remaining ferruginous field vegetation in the north of Brazil and extends the protection to more than 22,000 hectares of areas connected to the Carajás National Forest.

Focused on the reproduction of considering rare native species of the Iron Quadrangle region of Minas Gerais, endemic and endangered species, a Biofactory is dedicated to the recovery and restoration of areas using key-species for the region's biodiversity conservation.

In 2019, more than 40 million species were selected, species such as Cattleya milleri, orchid considered "Critically Endangered", or Arthrocereus glaziovii cactus considered "Endangered", as endemic species of rupestrian fields. During the year, approximately 3,000 individuals were reintroduced into recovery restoration areas. The seedlings’ monitoring proves a high percentage of survival in the field, assisting the enrichment and restoration of habitats.

In the Tubarão Complex, in Espírito Santo, Vale developed the recovery of areas and manages 113 hectares, in addition to the recovery of another 31 hectares, in permanent preservation areas around the lagoons. The project also involved planting 8,500 seedlings of native and fruitful species from the Atlantic Forest, including endangered species. Also noteworthy is the implementation of the Executive Plan for Ecological Restoration in the Fonte Grande State Park, with the main objective of reestablishing the connection between forest fragments. Located in the central massif on the island of Vitória, the project will be responsible for recovering 33 hectares by planting 8 thousand seedlings of species from the Atlantic Forest.

Vale operates within conservation units in high biodiversity value regions, always respecting the legal requirements in each category of Conservation Unit. In Carajás, for example, there are operations in the Carajás National Forest (Minas in Serra Norte and S11D) and in the Tapirapé Aquiri National Forest (Salobo). These are sustainable use conservation units, a category that allows human activities in joint development with the biodiversity conservation. In Minas Gerais, most of the operational units of the Iron Quadrangle are located within the Southern Environmental Protection Area (APA Sul, in portuguese), also in the category of conservation units for sustainable use.

In pursuit of biodiversity conservation, Vale establishes partnerships with conservation units of third parties, formalized or not, in which it invests in infrastructure, ecosystem protection (firebreaks, fences, prevention and fighting against fire and hunting), research and innovation.

The rupestrian fields are associated with mining deposits and suffer the greatest impacts from activities such as urban expansion, pasture areas and agriculture. In the case of the Iron Quadrangle (QF), in Minas Gerais, the project “Mapping the Phytophysiognomies of the Preserved Areas of the Iron Quadrangle”, from the Instituto Socioambiental de Viçosa, demonstrated that mining occupies about 3% of the QF area, compared to 15% of agriculture and 69% occupied by natural areas. Studies show that mining areas represent a low percentage of land use however contribute 42% of the preserved area.

In southeastern Pará, considering the total area of ​​ferruginous rock fields on the limits of the Carajás National Forest and the Ferruginous fields National Park National Park, only 5% have suffered intervention by mining activities in the last 10 years.

Created in 2017, the Ferruginous fields National Park National Park resulted from the environmental licensing of the S11D Eliezer Batista Complex, with the objective of safeguarding representative areas of ferruginous rock fields in 3,900 hectares and cavities.

The rare, endemic and/or endangered species surveys are regional, going beyond the boundaries of the company's operations and cover all available areas of rupestrian fields. This management aims to know the operation area and to map areas of occurrence of species of interest.

Main actions carried out in 2019 on the species of rupestrian fields:

Project to search for critical flora species in the Iron Quadrangle, Southeast of Pará, Vale protected areas and members of the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC).

• Creation of a network of taxonomists from different national research institutions to monitor the botanical identification of new species.
• Collection of seeds of the main rare, endemic and/or endangered species in Carajás, with cultivation and propagation in nurseries.
• Training of rescue teams and nurseries on the species of interest for their respective conservation.
• Elaboration of Germination Protocols of endemic species in rupestrian fields, to generate knowledge about them, in addition to techniques for seedling production.
• Project to rescue and translocate lycophytes in the ferruginous rock fields of Northern Brazil, in partnership with ITVDS and UFRJ/NUPEM.

Both the planning and execution of the recovery of degraded areas, RAD in Portuguese, are the responsibility of the operating units that integrate the company's mining complexes and logistical corridors (ports and railways), so that the recovery process incorporates ecological, aesthetic-landscape, socio-economic and cultural values different territories in which it operates. The corporate area, in addition to providing technical support, has the role of standardizing the technical, administrative and operational procedures applicable to RAD, in addition to promoting the collection and consolidation of the main performance indicators, with the view to support decision-making and give visibility to the theme.

In order to align the process with the Sustainability Policy, Vale established the RAD System Management Standard, whose objective is to define and standardize the general guidelines to be observed in the planning and execution of the recovery activities of degraded areas of the company nation ambit.

PRORAD

The focus of the Program for the Improvement of the Recovery of Degraded Areas (PRORAD), in 2019, was the implementation of the improvements mapped in the executed pilots in 2016 and 2017. Technical cooperation agreements were signed with regional universities to internalize the results obtained, either through training for RAD teams or in the unfolding of previous studies, aimed at attending specific cases.

The actions foreseen in PRORAD are being implemented, permeating several areas of knowledge, such as: specific fertilization of mining substrates, selection of plant species adapted to the revegetation of mined features, the monitoring of recovered mined areas and the mechanization of soil preparation in cutting slopes, among others.