Background

Rio Tinto QMM’s special characteristic compared to other Rio Tinto groups is that Madagascar is one of the richest biodiversity sites in the world. The mining project is therefore located in a very significant natural environment with a high endemic level and a unique coastal ecosystem.

So, very complex socio-economic parameters imply strong pressure on the natural environment. Lacking other alternatives, the population turns to natural resources to meet its needs. Deforestation, for slash-and-burn farming or “tavy” and making charcoal, is the biggest factor in massive destruction of natural habitats.

Although today the coastal forest is much damaged and fragmented, biological diversity (fauna and flora) is still very high. In fact, it is already a big challenge to protect an environment on which the majority of a population living under the poverty line depends for survival.

It is Rio Tinto QMM’s wish to show that the company’s environmental activities will lead to resulting benefit for this greatly endangered environment. Rio Tinto QMM has therefore committed to conserve this biodiversity on the sites where it operates and even to support conservation on the regional level via an Environmental Management Plan (PGE), attached to the Environmental permit issued by the government (ONE) in 2001. The ultimate goal is to minimize the mine’s negative impacts on biodiversity and create a model project for investment compatible with biodiversity conservation.