Enhancing biodiversity and promoting awareness

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Objective

Through rehabilitation, contributing to biodiversity conservation with the enhancement of the local landscape;

Awareness raising of the importance of biodiversity and the positive impacts the extractive industry can have on its environment.

Context

The Obourg plant is located in Mons, close to the French border. The plant has active quarries situated on the east side of the village and two closed and rehabilitated quarries on the west side of the village of Obourg. Due to the high groundwater level in the areas, extraction occurs below the water level. The surrounding area is mainly composed of residential and agricultural land: grassland, cultivated land parcels and forests.

Solutions

The rehabilitation of the quarry sites, which began in 1993, recovers natural habitats for different plant and animal species. Holcim monitors and maintains these sites to ensure the habitats thrive and informs local stakeholders and residents of the efforts undertaken. An integrated landscape approach enables the minimisation of biodiversity losses in the short term and to maximise biodiversity gains in the medium and long term. Active management of invasive species and design of appropriate rehabilitation enables a richer biodiversity to be established after the quarry operations and offers a better habitat to native species than it did before. Measures to further develop biodiversity are systematically undertaken. Holcim recognised the need for a platform for awareness raising and to engage local stakeholders.

Results

Obourg serves as example for the successful rehabilitation of old extraction sites. The efforts undertaken include close collaboration with local stakeholders. Two major facilities have been installed on the rehabilitated sites that are used for education and stakeholder engagement:

The “Jardin Géologique” (geological garden), created in 2002.
The “Maison de la Biodiversité” (house of biodiversity), was inaugurated in spring 2008.
These long-term rehabilitation efforts increased Holcim’s understanding in biodiversity and landscape management. The following lessons can be drawn:
Development of guiding principles which include biodiversity for landscape redevelopment;
The importance of planning rehabilitation along the whole site lifecycle and not only after exploitation.
Having a platform to raise awareness of the value of biodiversity in general dialogue for stakeholder engagement.

Results

Holcim works with the research institute Phragmites to conduct ecological assessments and monitoring, to develop management plans and educational materials.