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Securing Brand Reputation
Limestone and Biodiversity Management
Tony Whitten Senior Biodiversity Specialist East Asia & Pacific Region World Bank Group
IFC/WBCSD Roundtable on Sustainability in the Cement Sector Washington DC, June 10, 2004
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Issues
• Plans for limestone quarrying are rarely adequately assessed for their impacts on potentially unique biological and cultural features • Cement company attention to biodiversity has little (if anything) to do with the biodiversity of limestone
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Limestone Biodiversity
• both surface and cave systems • highly characteristic and restricted • species outside can endure the severity of exceedingly dry soil conditions over part of the year • many species confined to, or found primarily in, caves where the environment is relatively constant • some species confined to single hills or cave systems • many of the species concerned are relatively small, little known, and are rarely included in those lists of protected species • extinctions of limestone-restricted species as a result of economic development have already been recorded, and the status of other species is perilous • “there’s no elephants or tigers, so it’s OK to blow up the hill “
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Limestone animals
But also …...
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Weird invertebrates,
terrestrial fish, and
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extraordinary snails
Cultural Property
• Many parallels to biodiversity • some limestone areas are significant in that they harbour early evidence of human culture • some are historically significant • many karst areas are very beautiful, have cultural/religious values, and attract tourists
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Palaeontological remains in cave deposits have provided great insights into prehistoric faunas.
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made to secure brand ‘eco-reputation’ …
… but it is more than just partnerships and restoration
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Sites for limestone exploitation should:
be located in limestone deposits already impacted by other uses; avoid isolated limestone hills since such hills are usually rich in site-endemic species; be located in the largest limestone areas, leaving a substantial part untouched (where one large quarry affecting part of a limestone area can replace a number of small quarries throughout the area); avoid sites with caves, small voids, underground streams and springs; have a restoration plan before quarrying begins
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Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection
31 points including: • Effective planning in karst demands a full appreciation of all their economic, scientific and human values, within the local cultural and political context. • The integrity of any karst system depends on an interactive relationship between land, water and air, and any interference is likely to have impacts, and should be subjected to thorough environmental assessment. • Quarrying, should be located so as to minimize conflict with other resources or intrinsic values.
IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas
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Leaders in the cement industry could consider:
• Formally adopting the IUCN-WCPA Guidelines on Cave and Karst Protection, or some modified version thereof • Promoting the conservation of limestone biodiversity in all countries where it has interests, perhaps being associated within conservation projects in limestone areas • Ensuring that appropriate biodiversity specialists are employed on the environmental assessments for proposed developments • Instigating biodiversity assessments at all relevant sites • Using/adapting the TORs in the Bank’s book on limestone • THERE IS NO (LITTLE?) ‘BEST PRACTICE’ TO FOLLOW
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