CEMEX commit to habitat and biodiversity protection

TO further integrate protection of the environment into their business activities, CEMEX have recently signed a 10-year global agreement with the international bird and biodiversity conservation organization BirdLife International.

CEMEX and BirdLife have previously worked together in Europe but the new agreement goes much further, with BirdLife’s counsel, advice and expertise being integrated into the management of over 400 quarries operated by CEMEX around the world.

Commenting on the new agreement, Armando J. Garcia, CEMEX’s executive vice-president of development, said: ‘This agreement builds on CEMEX’s current environmental initiatives worldwide and is symbolic of our commitment to ensuring that our operations are carried out in an environmentally sound manner.

‘Our partnership with BirdLife International will allow us to benefit from their unrivalled knowledge on biodiversity issues and help to further improve our performance to become a more sustainable company.’

Mike Rands, chief executive officer of BirdLife, added: ‘We welcome this long-term commitment to partnership between industry and conservation. Working together and focusing on birds, we can make a real, positive contribution to biodiversity and the wider environment.’

In addition to meeting specific objectives of both parties, the agreement will also support a number of shared goals, including: raising the environmental awareness, knowledge and skills of CEMEX employees, site-adjacent communities and other stakeholders; minimizing and off-setting new biodiversity loss at CEMEX sites through support for wider conservation initiatives; the identification and pursuit of wider strategic initiatives through integrated approaches to sustainable development with targeted benefits for birds, biodiversity and people; and opportunities for enhancing conditions for bird populations at CEMEX sites through improved environmental-management practices, including impact avoidance, mitigation, rehabilitation and closure planning.

As an early example of their latest collaboration, BirdLife International and CEMEX have jointly produced an impressive new book entitled ‘Birds and People – Bonds in a Timeless Journey’, which, in addition to celebrating the relationship between man and birds, illustrates how the actions of birds, such as their earlier arrival at breeding grounds or a shift in their ranges towards the poles, can warn mankind of future environmental threats.

The 360-page book, which contains spectacular colour photographs from the world’s greatest bird photographers, is being sold to support BirdLife International’s fund-raising efforts and is available from the NHBS Environment bookstore (click on web link below).