1.Front section - IUCN

Extractive industries as a new constituency for protected areas 2
Contributions to conservation science
Equal in importance to winning support for the
establishment of protected areas and securing funds
for their management is the generation of scientific
knowledge about the species within their boundaries.
Scientists have recognised only a fraction, maybe less
than 10%, of the world’s species, and know the
biology of only a handful of these (Novotny et al.,
2002). Without this knowledge it is difficult, if not
impossible, to craft strategies for biodiversity
protection and establish a representative protected
area system.
Either because they are legally required or because
they are acting to comply with their own corporate
environmental policies, energy and mining companies
carry out, commission, or support a great number of
environmental studies in the locality of their projects.
Throughout the project cycle, biological data is
gathered for base line studies, scientific analysis
completed for inclusion in environmental impact
assessments, and monitoring programmes put in place
to track changes in the physical environment at
various scales, from the project site to the regional
land or seascape.
QIT Madagascar Minerals S.A. (QMM) has been
exploring the feasibility to mine ilmenite in
southeastern Madagascar from the mineral sands
found beneath the fragile ecology of a littoral forest
system. The company hired sixty of its own experts
and worked with leading Malagasy and international
specialists to undertake extensive, in-depth
environmental and social studies over a ten-year
period. QMM established partnerships with several
leading research institutions, including Missouri
Botanical Gardens, Oxford University, Hamburg
University, Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, the
Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University
and the Smithsonian Institution. Arrangements with
academic institutions have enabled 105 Malagasy and
international students to complete studies for
professional, masters, and doctorate degrees.
The range of taxonomic groups and species studied
is impressive. More than fifty volumes contain
information on lemur species, invertebrates and
pedofauna, small mammals, birds, reptiles,
amphibians, fish, shrimps, mussels, algae, multiple
flora species and plants, and mycorhiza and
rhizobium. To date, 18 papers have been published in
scientific publications (Vincelett, 2004, pers. comm.).
As a result, there is now available some of the best
scientific knowledge possible in regard to the
dynamics of the littoral forest ecosystem and specific
faunal species. These data and analyses are the
bedrock of the biodiversity monitoring programme for
the area that is of international importance (Porter et
al., 2001).
Data and analysis generated by energy and mining
companies can be an important resource for managing
protected areas, as the example in Box 2.3 of Alcoa in
south-western Australia shows in the control of the
deadly dieback disease that threatens the unique jarrah
forest (Gardner, 2001; Gardner and Stoneman, 2003).
As well, the findings of scientific studies carried out
to explore increasingly geologically complex areas
can be of equal importance for conservation efforts
when used to gather information on species and
delineate protected areas. Nowhere is this more the
case than in the marine biome, the frontier for both
conservation efforts and oil and gas exploration.
Statoil, the Norwegian national oil company, found
the first coral reef in Norway at 70˚N in 1982 using
multibeam sonar, a technology used for seismic
exploration activities and for routing sub-marine
pipelines to avoid sensitive biodiversity. Sonar and
echo sounder technologies, combined with new
technologies for visualization, and video recording
cameras on remotely operated vehicles are
increasingly popular tools for mapping coral reefs and
their associated macrofauna. Since then the company
has been working with scientists at the Norwegian
Institute of Marine Research in a collaboration that
has led to the protection of the Sulia Reef, one of the
largest coral reefs in Norway, and the designation of
an inshore coral reef in the Trondheim fjord as a
marine nature reserve (IPIECA, 2004b).
Public support for protected areas
Finally, the extractive industries sector can be an
advocate for the global protected area system. Large
international energy and mining companies are not
without influence. They have an audience with
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