Teck's recent experience in pursuing Net Positive Impact (NPI) for biodiversity at coal mines in BC and Alberta

• Main Authors: Franklin, C. W., Hilts, S. R., Gullison, R. E.
• Other Authors: British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium, University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Biodiversity management; Biodiversity mitigation hierarchy; Biodiversity offset; Habitat; Reclamation; First Nations
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/67928

In 2011, Teck Coal Limited (Teck) adopted an aspirational, long-term (2030) goal to achieve a Net Positive Impact (NPI) on biodiversity. This paper provides an overview of conceptual and technical advances as they relate to our NPI strategy and targets. Key learnings include: (i) The scope of our biodiversity commitment has proven possible to operationalize and has been generally supported by our communities of interest and First Nations (ii) Through the use of historical aerial photos and data, digital imagery, and predictive ecosystem mapping, we have developed credible pre-development baselines of ecosystems and wildlife habitat suitability for our operations, even though some are many decades old (iii) In order to support a quantitative accounting of our gains and losses to ecosystems, we have developed a measurement framework for assessing the condition or quality of ecosystems based on the BC provincial Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) and database of benchmark data. We still face some challenges, including the lack of a landscape conservation plan for the Elk Valley region and knowledge of specific reclamation techniques that will allow us to restore the full range of ecosystems that existed at our operations prior to disturbance. Non UBC Unreviewed Other