SDG 15: Life on Land

There is an expectation that the private sector can and should play a significant role in promoting and supporting the delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This SDG calls for the rapid and full implementation of international agreements on conservation, restoration, and the sustainable use of land; sustainable forest management; and efforts to combat desertification.

Mining and its associated infrastructure can affect biodiversity at the ecosystem, habitat, and species levels. The mitigation hierarchy—avoid, minimise, restore, enhance, and offset—offers a structured approach to managing these impacts. As stewards of extensive land holdings, mining companies have a clear responsibility to support biodiversity conservation and sustainable land use.

What companies need to know to manage impacts or make a positive contribution
The biodiversity within areas of operation, including the presence of protected areas, critical habitat and any endangered species. How current and future activities might adversely impact on biodiversity, or the ecosystem services it provides. What opportunities exist to strengthen biodiversity and ecosystems at an operational level in partnership with other local stakeholders.
Industry action may involve:
Supporting projects to link biodiversity with local social-economic development. Encouraging and participating in landscape-level planning processes. Developing post-closure plans which aim to leave landscapes and ecosystems in a more resilient, and diverse state than pre-mining. Applying mitigation hierarchy to minimise impacts on biodiversity. Avoiding impacting critical habitat. Offset biodiversity impacts where residual loss of biodiversity is unavoidable.