Sustainable Development > Environmental Performance > Biodiversity Biodiversity |
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We recognize our role as stewards of the environment and work hand in hand with local communities and world experts to understand local flora and fauna and to enhance efforts to preserve biodiversity. Additionally, we dedicate financial resources to support scientific study on biodiversity in and around many of our areas of operation. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. is a member of the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), a nonprofit coalition created in 1988 and dedicated to protecting and enhancing wildlife habitat by helping large landowners manage their unused lands in an ecologically sensitive manner. WHC’s Corporate Wildlife Habitat Certification Program recognizes meaningful wildlife habitat management programs and environmental education programs. Each year, WHC accredits new projects across the United States and recertifies facilities that have maintained its stringent standards. We currently have WHC-certified programs in Golden, Colorado; Bagdad, Arizona; and Fort Madison, Iowa. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. is currently working with WHC to identify potential projects at multiple locations in the United States. Common projects include the installation of grates when sealing off historic mine openings to preserve bat habitat and the planting of native species to encourage pollinators. The El Abra mine is participating in an effort to sustain the biodiversity of the Andean Salt Flats, as part of an international agreement between Chile, Argentina, Peru and Bolivia to implement an Action Plan for the Conservation of Flamingos in this unique, high altitude desert environment. In Chile, the National Forestry Service (CONAF) is driving this initiative, and El Abra has agreed to monitor and help protect three species of flamingos that nest in salt flats near the mine. Our mining lands in Indonesia are adjacent to the 2.5 million hectare Lorentz National Park. The entire region of southern Papua exhibits one of the highest levels of biodiversity in Southeast Asia. Similar to the PT Freeport Indonesia project area, the park encompasses a continuous, intact range of habitat types, from high mountains to tropical marine environment, including extensive wetlands near and along the coast. We have conducted numerous ecological and biodiversity studies within our project area, in conjunction with Indonesian and international experts, to facilitate effective biodiversity management. The large majority of this work is directly applicable and made available to researchers charged with developing management plans for the Lorentz National Park.
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For the third consecutive year, Morenci employees teamed up with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to round up Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Between 200 and 300 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep roam the eastern Arizona countryside and some can occasionally be found grazing near Morenci operation’s structures. 
In cooperation with several public and private conservation organizations, PT Freeport Indonesia helped to relocate 24 Dusky Pademelons, a nearly extinct small kangaroo species, including three very young animals still in their mothers’ pouches. The Pademelons were relocated to Nayaro, Papua, in June 2007 and, following an adaptation period, were flown to Merauke in December to be released into the Wasur National Park. Many Marin tribe representatives were present to greet the kangaroos with traditional dances.
The conservation of rare plants is an important consideration during the development of the Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There is a collection of rare plants in Katanga that have adapted to life on mineralized soils, some species of which occur only in the region. Tenke Fungurume is working with Dr. François Malaisse of Gembloux University in Belgium, a noted world expert on plants that thrive in soils rich in copper, cobalt and other metals, to develop and implement a multi-faceted approach to minimize impacts to this highly specialized species. This approach will include avoiding disturbance of copper-cobalt plants and creating new habitat for the plants away from mining operations.