Teck Sets Nature Positive Goal

Teck Resources Ltd. set a goal to become a nature positive company including through conserving or rehabilitating at least three hectares for every one hectare affected by its mining activities. Teck is taking immediate action toward achieving this ambitious goal through land conservation investments that will protect 14,000 hectares of wildlife habitat and ecosystems in Canada and Chile. This is equivalent to more than 40% of the current mining footprint and equal to 35 Stanley Parks in Vancouver; 40 Central Parks in New York; more than twice the size of Manhattan; or 20,000 football (soccer) fields.

“We are committed to working with local partners, communities and indigenous peoples to conserve ecologically and culturally significant lands and work toward the goal of becoming a nature positive mining company by 2030,” Teck President and CEO Don Lindsay said. “Nature loss is a serious global challenge that we are all called on to do our part to halt and reverse. Working toward being nature positive in each region we operate builds on Teck’s long-standing commitment to biodiversity and reflects the passion of our employees for caring for the land where they live and work.”

Teck’s new conservation initiatives include a $2 million donation to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) for the purchase and ongoing management of the nearly 8,000-hectare Next Creek Watershed in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. Next Creek was the last remaining unprotected land within the Darkwoods Conservation Area and this purchase protects the ecological integrity of a conservation network that has national and international significance.

It also includes a donation to NCC of approximately 162 hectares of Teck-owned land in the Wycliffe Wildlife Corridor, also known as the Luke Creek Conservation Corridor, near Kimberley, British Columbia, and further donation of $600,000 for the ongoing management of the land.

A wetland ecosystem of 5,800 hectares near Teck’s Quebrada Blanca Operations in Chile will be protected in partnership with the Ollagüe Quechua community. Known as the Salar de Alconcha, or Alconcha Salt Flat, the lands are located northwest of the village of Ollagüe near the Bolivian border at 4,123 meters above sea level. The initiative is the first of its kind in Chile.

This initiative also includes $10 million to create an Indigenous Stewardship Fund that will support Indigenous communities and partners in the development of Indigenous-focused environmental stewardship initiatives as well as engagement, education, capacity-building and participation in support of conservation objectives in regions where Teck operates.

The company will also provide $12 million in new funding to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to support future high priority conservation projects in British Columbia, in addition to those announced already.

The conservation investments build on Teck’s purchase of more than 7,000 hectares of private lands in the Elk and Flathead River Valleys of British Columbia, set aside for conservation. Teck’s purchase of these lands in 2013 was one of the single biggest private sector investments in land conservation in British Columbia history. In 2021, Teck and the Ktunaxa Nation announced the signing of a Joint Management Agreement to ensure the protection of the area’s social, cultural and ecological value.

“I commend Teck on committing to conserve or rehabilitate at least three hectares for every one hectare affected by its mining activities,” said the Hon. Bruce Ralston, British Columbia minister of energy, mines and low carbon innovation. “With this move, Teck is showing leadership in managing its operations in a manner that meets the environmental, social, and governance criteria investors, the public and the provincial government expect from companies.”

NCC President and CEO Catherine Grenier said Teck is demonstrating that for-profit and non-profit organizations can come together to tackle the toughest ecological challenges, including biodiversity loss and climate change.