DETROIT, MI, JUNE 15, 2022 – Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) announced the winners of its 2022 WHC Awards during the WHC Conservation Conference held in Detroit, Michigan on June 14-15. The WHC Awards honor excellence in corporate conservation, and recipients include national and international companies representing a variety of industries.

The year’s top awards, which signify exemplary leadership in corporate conservation, went to General Motors and ITC Holdings.

“We are proud to honor WHC members, including General Motors and ITC Holdings, for their outstanding accomplishments over the past year,” said Margaret O’Gorman, President, WHC. “Not only are these companies committed to making biodiversity a priority, but they also serve as excellent examples of how corporations can employ nature-based solutions to further global biodiversity and conservation goals. We are honored to recognize these leaders in corporate conservation with the WHC Awards.”

General Motors received the 2022 Corporation Conservation Leadership Award, which recognizes one company’s overall excellence in conservation and signifies their exemplary commitment to biodiversity, conservation education, and alignment with global conservation objectives.

This year’s Employee Engagement Award was also given to General Motors. This award recognizes the exceptional contributions of a company’s employees to their habitat and conservation education activities.

ITC Holdings was awarded the 2022 Gold Tier Program Award, which honors the overall depth of one conservation program, for the various projects at their corporate headquarters in Novi, Michigan.

New this year, the WHC Spirit Award was presented to CRH and ITC for displaying the most energy, enthusiasm and team spirit during the WHC Awards Dinner.

In addition to these corporate and program-level awards, individual projects are recognized for excellence in each of the WHC Project Guidance themes. This award category, presented by Boeing, offers projects of all sizes the ability to compete for recognition.

Freeport-McMoRan was this year’s most honored company, receiving five project awards (Awareness and Engagement, Caves, Desert, Mammals and Training) for their conservation and education work at Morenci Mine, Sierrita Mine and United Verde, all located in Arizona.

The following is a complete list of 2022 WHC Award Winners:

WHC Corporate Conservation Leadership Award
General Motors

WHC Employee Engagement Award
General Motors

WHC Gold Program Award
ITC Holdings, ITC Corporate Headquarters  |  Novi, Michigan

Avian Project Award
Boeing, Boeing Emery Landfill-Wichita  |  Wichita, Kansas

Awareness and Engagement Project Award
Freeport-McMoRan, Freeport-McMoRan Sierrita Mine  |  Green Valley, Arizona

Bats Project Award
Wacker Chemical, Adrian Site  |  Adrian, Michigan

Caves Project Award
Freeport-McMoRan, Morenci Mine  |  Morenci, Arizona

Desert Project Award
Freeport-McMoRan, Freeport-McMoRan Sierrita Mine  |  Green Valley, Arizona

Forests Project Award
ITC Holdings, ITC Corporate Headquarters  |  Novi, Michigan

Formal Learning Project Award
Bayer, Muscatine Plant and Big Sand Mound Nature Preserve  |  Muscatine, Iowa

Grassland Project Award
Boeing, Boeing Emery Landfill-Wichita  |  Wichita, Kansas

Green Infrastructure Project Award
Ice Mountain/BlueTriton Brands, Twin Creek Nature Area  |  Evart, Michigan

Invasive Species Project Award
Vulcan Materials, Grandin Sand Plant  |  Melrose, Florida

Land Conservation Agreement Project Award
Constellation, Criterion Wind  |  Oakland, Maryland

Landscaped Project Award
CRH Americas, Booneville  |  Booneville, Iowa

Mammals Project Award
Freeport-McMoRan, Morenci Mine  |  Morenci, Arizona

Other Habitats Project Award
Exelon, Brandywine ROW Stewardship Program  |  Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania

Other Species Project Award
Buzzi Unicem, Chattanooga Plant  |  Chattanooga, Tennessee

Pollinators Project Award
Boeing, Boeing Emery Landfill-Wichita  |  Wichita, Kansas

Remediation Project Award
WM, Twin Creeks Landfill  |  Watford, Ontario, Canada

Reptiles and Amphibians Project Award
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River Laboratories  |  Chalk River, Ontario, Canada

Species of Concern Project Award
Bayer, Muscatine Plant and Big Sand Mound Nature Preserve  |  Muscatine, Iowa

Training Project Award
Freeport-McMoRan, United Verde Site  |  Jerome, Arizona

Wetlands and Water Bodies Project Award
Exelon, Gwynedd ROW Stewardship Program  |  North Wales, Pennsylvania

Award finalists and winners were chosen from Conservation Certification applications submitted between January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021 that were granted certification. Information on award criteria can be found here.

About Wildlife Habitat Council 

For 34 years, WHC has been promoting and certifying ecological stewardship action on corporate lands through partnerships and education. Since only 10-15% of the world’s land surface is protected, private lands provide an essential opportunity for restoring and protecting biodiversity. As the only international conservation NGO focused exclusively on the private sector, WHC provides a framework for voluntary conservation action on a wide variety of corporate lands. WHC’s corporate members represent some of the leading national and multinational corporations seeking to support sustainable ecosystems and the communities that surround them. These efforts have resulted in more than 1,000 certified programs across 47 states and 28 countries.