Anglo American and Komatsu’s Growing Together mine rehabilitation partnership has been expanded with new tree planting days that will see a total of 14,000 trees planted at and around Anglo American’s Dawson Mine in Central Queensland.
The partnership was established in March 2020 and aims to rehabilitate land by re-establishing native plant species in the area, with the support of non-profit organisations, Green Forests Work and Arbor Day Foundation.
This week, students from Moura and Banana State Schools, Traditional Owners from Gangulu Nation, local community members and employees from Anglo American, Komatsu and Mitsui joined together to plant 1,000 native trees in a community planting day at the Dawson Mine Viewing Platform, including five narrow leaf bottle trees (Brachychiton rupestris).
Participating students had the opportunity to join in the planting, learn more about local flora and rehabilitation from environmental experts, hear about Cultural Heritage from Gangulu Nation representatives, and complete rock art painting activities. They were all provided with free plants to take back to home and school.
The expanded Growing Together partnership includes plans for further trees to be planted at the newly-constructed Kianga Creek Diversion, near Moura - in addition to the trees planted this week and 4,000 trees that were planted at Dawson North in March 2020.
Chief Executive Officer of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business, Tyler Mitchelson, said the partnership was helping to embed sustainability practices within the companies and broader Central Queensland community.
“Anglo American’s global Sustainable Mining Plan contains ambitious sustainability targets to help transform our business, including a commitment to being carbon neutral across our operations by 2040.
“It guides us in not only minimising the impact of our mining operations, but also in seeking to deliver positive and lasting environmental outcomes.
“We are committed to ensuring that the land where we operate is rehabilitated to provide ongoing value to communities, and this partnership is a further demonstration of that commitment.
“Being able to collaborate with our industry partners, Traditional Owners, local school students and community members is a powerful way to increase the impact of our partnership, and achieve improved sustainability outcomes locally,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Komatsu Australia, Sean Taylor said the “The partnership is a continuation of Komatsu’s Growing Forward signature environmental initiative, the reforestation of formerly mined lands, which was launched on Earth Day 2019 to advance the company’s commitment to a sustainable future for all.
“Now more than any other time in our company’s history, our efforts must be increasingly sustainable to ensure we uphold our commitments to society. As part of our 100th Anniversary, Komatsu has set a vision of achieving carbon neutrality, & virtually zero carbon emissions, by 2050.
“The work needed to positively change our future cannot be done alone. We are proud to be creating value together with Anglo American and members of the local community as we prioritise activities that benefit the environment and combat climate change.”
The Growing Together partnership continues Komatsu’s existing reforestation efforts with Green Forests Work (GFW), a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting proper mine reclamation methods and the restoration of natural habitats, including national forests.
Green Forests Work and Arbor Day Foundation have supported Growing Together as part of their aim to plant, support, and nurture trees around the world. They partnered with viral crowdfunding initiative #TeamTrees, to supply trees for the partnership as part of a challenge to plant 20 million trees by December 2022.
The project is being undertaken in coordination with Australian environmental consultancy, Unearthed Environmental Services, and support from Anglo American’s earthworks contractor, Moorvale Earthmoving.
About Anglo American
Anglo American is a leading global mining company and our products are the essential ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Our portfolio of world-class competitive operations, development projects and undeveloped resources, provides many of the metals and minerals that enable a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world and that meet the fast growing consumer-driven demands of developed and maturing economies. With our people at the heart of our business, we use innovative practices and the latest technologies to mine, process, move and market our products to our customers – and to discover new resources – safely and sustainably.
As a responsible producer of diamonds (through De Beers), copper, platinum group metals, the steelmaking ingredients of iron ore and metallurgical coal, and nickel – with crop nutrients in development and thermal coal operations planned for divestment – we are committed to being carbon neutral across our operations by 2040. In Australia, the company operates five metallurgical coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, which produce and export highest quality hard coking coal for steel making.
To learn more about Anglo American, visit www.angloamerican.com.au
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