Mining company Teck Resources Limited announced today plans to conserve or rehabilitate at least three hectares of land for every one hectare disturbed by its mining operations as part of a new commitment to be a nature positive company by 2030.

For its new commitment, Teck stated that it will take immediate action in three focus areas, including nature positive decision making, assessing the biodiversity impacts of its actions and minimizing impact where possible as part of planning;, accelerating the pace of rehabilitation, ensuring progress for all eligible land impacted by mining operations, and; conservation, protection and restoration, including new projects announced today encompassing 14,000 hectares, or more than 40% of the company’s mining footprint.

Don Lindsay, President and CEO, Teck, said:

“We are committed to working with local partners, communities and Indigenous Peoples to conserve ecologically and culturally significant lands and work towards the goal of becoming a nature positive mining company by 2030. Nature loss is a serious global challenge that we are all called on to do our part to halt and reverse.”

The new initiatives announced today include protecting 5,800 hectares of a unique and high-value wetland ecosystem in Chile in partnership with the Ollagüe Quechua community, $12 million in new funding to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to support future high priority conservation projects in B.C., and a $2 million donation to NCC for the purchase and management of a B.C. watershed, and a $10 million to create an Indigenous Stewardship Fund to support indigenous communities and partner in the development of indigenous-focused environmental stewardship initiatives.

Catherine Grenier, President, and CEO, NCC, said:

“We applaud Teck for taking real and measurable action to become a nature positive company by the end of the decade. Teck’s commitment to and investment in the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s work will help us accelerate the pace and scale of conservation in British Columbia. If we conserve entire natural systems, we help nature to deliver the essential services that support life. That’s why conservation matters.”