Approaches

Rio Tinto QMM’s big challenge is setting up a world-class project which can act as a catalyst to fight poverty and preserving biodiversity, in a region where the population has no other alternative to natural resources for survival. The approach is based on Rio Tinto’s commitment to achieve a net positive impact (NPI) on biodiversity in its operating zones. Strategies have been drawn up, based on the social and environmental studies started shortly after the Ilmenite Project was established at Fort Dauphin. The parameters were carefully selected so that all negative impacts on the environment could be avoided, mitigated or compensated. QMM’s management, therefore, prioritized to set aside the best residual forest fragment of an already partially degraded forest zone on the Mandena deposit (10% of the deposit) to create a conservation zone in 2002. This zone now forms part of the SAPM (Madagascar Protected areas System) and enjoys official conservation status. Subsequently, similar conservation zones were also created in Ste. Luce and Petriky. Simultaneous, scientifically rigorous research and experiments were undertaken for the conservation needs of endemic or endangered species and for ecosystem restoration.