2020 WHC Awards Announced at the first WHC Connect Virtual Conference

/by

OCTOBER 7, 2020 – Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) announced the winners of its 2020 WHC Awards during WHC Connect, the organization’s first virtual conference, held online October 6-7. The WHC Awards honor excellence in corporate conservation; recipients include both national and international companies across a variety of industry sectors.

This year’s top awards, signifying leadership in conservation, were won by CEMEX, DTE Energy and Fidelity Investments, and were based on applications submitted between July 16, 2019 and December 31, 2019.

New this year, WHC presented the first ever Ibis Award to Bacardi for its work at its facility in Jacksonville. The Ibis Award recognizes a WHC-Certified program that has demonstrated resiliency of spirit and advancement of conservation despite shutdowns, quarantines and changes in the workplace. This award was based on applications submitted between January 1, 2020 and July 15, 2020.

“We’re honored to recognize the outstanding achievements of WHC members, including Bacardi, CEMEX, DTE Energy and Fidelity Investments,” said Margaret O’Gorman, President, WHC. “The companies, programs and employees around the world we salute with WHC Awards represent the importance of nature-based solutions on corporate lands. These solutions are vital to solve the biodiversity and climate crises and our members are at the forefront of this challenge.”

CEMEX received the 2020 WHC Corporate Conservation Leadership Award. The Corporate Conservation Leadership Award honors one company’s overall achievement in conservation efforts, and signifies an exemplary level of corporate commitment to biodiversity and conservation education, and meaningful alignments with global conservation objectives.

The Employee Engagement Award, given to DTE Energy, recognizes a company’s involvement in conservation through the sheer force of its employee teams who participate in its habitat and conservation education activities.

Fidelity Investments received the Gold Tier Program Award, which honors the overall conservation depth of one exceptional program, for its conservation efforts at the Fidelity Investments facility in Smithfield, Rhode Island. Smithfield was also awarded the 2020 WHC Forests Project Award.

Projects are recognized for excellence in each of the WHC Project Guidance themes. This category offers projects of all sizes the ability to compete for recognition. Learn more about the Project Award criteria here.

CEMEX was the year’s most honored company, picking up four awards in the following categories: Corporate Conservation Leadership Award, Awareness & Engagement (Huichapan “Cerro Pardo” y “Puzolana,” Mexico), Deserts (El Carmen Nature Reserve, Mexico), and Landscaped (Ready Mix USA, Alabama).

The following is a complete list of 2020 WHC Award Winners:

WHC Corporate Conservation Leadership Award
CEMEX

WHC Employee Engagement Award
DTE Energy

WHC Gold Program Award
Fidelity Investments Smithfield, Rhode Island

WHC Ibis Award
Bacardi Bottling Corporation  |  Jacksonville, FL         

WHC Avian Project Award
Muskegon County Wastewater Management System, Muskegon County Wastewater Facility  |  Muskegon, Michigan, U.S.A.

WHC Awareness & Engagement Project Award
CEMEX, Huichapan “Cerro Pardo” y “Puzolana”  |  Huichapan, Hidalgo, Mexico

WHC Bats Project Award
Argos USA, Argos Newberry Plant   |   Newberry, Florida, U.S.A.

WHC Deserts Project Award
CEMEX, El Carmen Nature Reserve   |   Coahuila, Mexico

WHC Forests Project Award
Fidelity Investments, Smithfield   |   Smithfield, Rhode Island, U.S.A.

WHC Formal Learning Project Award
Benjamin Moore, Pell City   |    Pell City, Alabama, U.S.A.

WHC Grasslands Project Award
Waste Management, Kirby Canyon Recycling and Disposal Facility  |   Morgan Hill, California, U.S.A.

WHC Invasive Species Project Award
Toyota, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas   |   San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

WHC Landscaped Project Award
CEMEX, Ready Mix USA   |   Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A.

WHC Mammals Project Award
MEG Energy, Christina Lake Regional Project   |   Alberta, Canada

WHC Other Habitats Project Award
Vulcan Materials, Cajon Creek Habitat Conservation Area   |   Glendale, California, U.S.A.

WHC Pollinators Project Award
Albemarle, Kings Mountain Pollinator Habitat   |   Kings Mountain, North Carolina, U.S.A.

WHC Reptiles & Amphibians Project Award
Waste Management, West Carleton Environmental Centre   |   Ottawa, Canada

WHC Rocky Areas Project Award
Exelon, R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Station   |   Ontario, New York, U.S.A.

WHC Species of Concern Project Award
Waste Management, Kirby Canyon Recycling and Disposal Facility   |   Morgan Hill, California, U.S.A.

WHC Wetlands & Water Bodies Project Award
Exelon, Gwynedd Stream Rehabilitation and Protection Project   |   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Award finalists and winners were chosen from Conservation Certification applications submitted from July 16, 2019 – December 31, 2019 that were granted certification. Information on award criteria can be found here.

It’s Time to Invest in Nature-Based Solutions to Solve the Biodiversity and Climate Crises

/by

At this summer’s Oxford University Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Digital Dialogues , a conversation between top scientists in the field took a deeper dive into the opportunities and hazards of NbS to address climate change. This timely conversation highlighted how we as policy makers, corporate leaders, environmentalists and the general public gravitate towards simple solutions and prefer to adopt cures that require the least of us. The conversation also shone a light on the danger of assuming that climate change can be addressed with NbS and without decarbonization of the world’s economy. A video of the dialogue can be found here and the 90-minute investment of time is well worth it for those seeking a deeper knowledge of the issue, the possibilities and the challenges.

The private sector’s embrace of NbS to address climate change is of specific interest to the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) and its members who span the value chain. With the support of ArcelorMittal, WHC has been engaged in a year-long exploration of how and where the private sector can use its own lands for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The exploration started with a simple question that was based on an ongoing frustration about the disparity between corporate action on climate and corporate action on biodiversity.

Could the private sector be persuaded to adopt NbS on its own lands for climate mitigation and adaptation purposes and in so doing generate uplift for biodiversity at the same time?

They should, considering the facts. The World Economic Forum Global Risks Reports have positioned biodiversity collapse on its risk matrix of highly likely and highly impactful events beside climate change for the past three years. According to an IPBES report,the loss of pollinators alone will cost the annual global economy between $235 billion and $577 billion which, as an example, is the same/more than the market capitalization of General Motors, Toyota, Ford and FCA combined.

Despite this, the biodiversity crisis receives less than 8 times less media coverage  and nature-based solutions receive only 3% of climate finance. In addition, while the private sector has embraced the concept of responsibility for its scope three emissions for carbon by setting carbon reduction goals for the impacts of their products along the supply chain, it has not done the same with biodiversity where impacts and ‘materiality’ remain narrowly defined.  This dichotomy in the definition of materiality was the main subject of my State of Corporate Conservation address in 2019.

Given the lack of investment in the biodiversity crisis and the focus on climate change by the corporate sector, it makes sense that NbS is an attractive solution as biodiversity benefit can —with a well-designed project— be gained from climate action. Like a parent hiding vegetables in a kid’s meal or a veterinarian administering pills wrapped in peanut butter to a wary animal, nature can be slyly mainstreamed into operations as a climate solution with caveats on scale and impact.

For the agricultural and forestry sectors the potential of NbS for climate, or Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) is the most significant – where reversing deforestation in the tropics and removing land from inefficient uses are two powerful actions that need to be taken. But for other industries not engaged in extracting value from the top 3 feet of the lithosphere, opportunities abound to take some climate action using nature. These local or site-based opportunities can result in meaningful outcomes for climate, biodiversity, employees and community members. The human dimension aspect of site-based NCS can be a powerful driver to engage stakeholders in acts that are positive, practical and personal.

There are many options for private sector engagement in NCS for both climate mitigation (reduce GHG) and climate adaptation.

A few of the easiest options are:

  • Invest in soil health: From a corporate campus to a factory or a mine site, the private sector has significant amounts of soil under its control, most of it degraded from operations or lands management. Globally, soils have a potential to sequester 5.5 G/t Co2/year mostly from better managed croplands and grasslands, but all soils will sequester more carbon when managed to do so.
  • Make smart forestry decisions: The focus on reforestation and afforestation for carbon sequestration is driving a “gold rush” as companies race to adopt ambitious forestry targets with little of the nuance needed to support them. Monoculture commodity forestry done for a speedy and financial return at the expense of native and diverse forests represent a backward step and a maladaptive practice. The identification of “marginal” lands for forestry projects risks displacing indigenous people and subsistence farmers. Smart forestry decisions include looking at a company’s own lands and exploring how it can contribute to the health of the local watershed or ecosystem, to the local community or the a municipal or regional canopy goal.
  • Connect across the fence-line: A manufacturing site or a storage facility can be the biggest risk item in a community’s review of its resilience against climate-related weather events. Green infrastructure designed to absorb storm surges, natural buffers designed to protect structures, softened shorelines that can accept rising sea-levels, and ecologically adaptive landscapes can all lessen the burden on communities that are most at risk of climate-related events.
  • Integrate NbS with SDGs and other corporate commitments: We need an “all of the above” approach to the twin environmental crises of climate change and biodiversityfacing our planet and we need to design solutions that will also address inequities in health, education and access to resources. The power of the SDGs is in the recognition that all our global challenges are interconnected, and that maladaptation is a real concern when one solution is promoted above all others. By considering how NbS can integrate into the SDGs, multiple benefits are realized and maladaptation is avoided. In a recently published WHC white paper, we found many points of integration between corporate conservation action and the SDGs.
  • Mainstream nature into operations: An environmental management system that views nature as a tool instead of something to be “dealt with” could change lands management across all corporate landholdings and cause biodiversity to be mainstreamed. By adopting a “with nature” approach, a specific operation can assess its nature needs and opportunities, and the company as a whole can show that it is acting for the planet on its own premises.

Beyond these simple options there are of course offsets and markets and green bonds and all types of other sophisticated mechanisms that deploy nature for climate change. But, at the end of the pragmatic spectrum where implementation occurs, corporate action with NbS/NCS should adopt three tenets: (1) that either/or is not an option, (2) that all NbS action should be beyond compliance, and (3) that biodiversity should be designed into all NbS efforts. As Pete Smith from the University of Aberdeen said at the Digital Dialogues, “The land as a whole has a vital role to play in climate change.” It’s up to the private sector, its stakeholders and shareholders to deploy it in the right way.

Read more WHC blogs.

Wildlife Habitat Council Receives U.S. Forest Service Funding to Support Urban and Community Forestry Partnerships

/by

SILVER SPRING, MD, September 8, 2020 – Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) was awarded a grant from the USDA Forest Service as part of its 2020 Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Cost Share Grant Program.

This grant will fund WHC’s new initiative, Across Fence Lines: Connecting Corporate America to Communities through Public-Private Forestry Programs. The initiative will focus on a best-in-class approach connecting corporate conservation, urban forestry groups, community members/leaders and employees to local, state and national canopy and forestry goals, addressing local resiliency challenges and providing workforce development opportunities and biodiversity uplift.

“With the support of U.S. Forest Service, we will be able to fill a significant resource gap to better connect the private sector to community forestry initiatives,” said Margaret O’Gorman, President, WHC. “This program also addresses the specific needs of high potential communities where impactful industries are historically located.”

The program will draw on existing community forestry efforts and WHC’s more than three decades of experience connecting corporate and community groups for voluntary conservation efforts Across Fence Lines is the latest of our on-the-ground efforts to bring about tangible, climate change adaptation actions to urban-industrial communities. New urban forestry connections will also contribute knowledge to the project.

WHC will partner with corporations such as Praxair, NiSource, Arcelor Mittal, Freeport McMoRan, FCA and Marathon Petroleum to study existing corporate community forestry efforts and design new connections. WHC will engage Davey Institute, Student Conservation Association and the Greening of Detroit as knowledge partners to help identify best practices and consider the unique challenges and opportunities of working in urban-industrial lands.

Other recipients of the 2020 National Urban and Community Forestry Grants for Creating and Enhancing Resilient Urban and Community Forests: University of Maryland, North Carolina State University, Sustainable Resources Institute/Urban Wood Network, University of Tennessee, The Giving Grove.

For more information about how WHC can help support a wide spectrum of corporate conservation activities please contact whcconsulting@wildlifehc.org.

About Wildlife Habitat Council

For 30 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.

About the Grant

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/urban-forests/ucf/2020-nufrigp

New White Paper Small Scales, Big Impacts

/by

SILVER SPRING, MD, August 26, 2020 – Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) offers a new white paper available for download today, Small Scales, Big Impacts – How conservation makes positive impacts for biodiversity and community awareness despite limitations related to the amount of land, number of employees or the size of managed species. The white paper is sponsored by Toyota North America and is available for free on our website.

In traditional conservation models, large budgets are considered essential for  significant conservation outcomes. This theory also requires large workforces to support meaningful employee or community engagement efforts. However, creative thinking and a working knowledge of conservation context can challenge these notions by enabling projects with positive biodiversity and business outcomes with realistic budget and personnel requirements.

This white paper explores what it means to work on a small scale for a big impact for nature. Highlighted projects show that healthy and productive habitats can be managed with small budgets, teams, land or species, including:

Argos: Newberry Plant
Aristeo Construction: Detroit Headquarters
CRH Americas: Acton Quarry
Exelon: Quad Cities Generation Station
Freeport-McMoRan: Port Nickel
General Motors: Lockport Facility
ITC: ITC Iowa City Warehouse
Phillips 66: Habitat and Conservation Education Initiative

Sponsored by Toyota North America, this white paper includes a forward by Kevin Butt Senior Director, Environmental Sustainability, in which he states, “Toyota’s Challenge 2050 seeks to establish a future society in harmony with nature. To do this, we are committing to planting forests around factories and connecting nature conservation to the education of children. Both of these approaches can be done at scale, at small sites and at locations with restricted access, limited land or challenging conditions. Both of these approaches wield results that are not constrained by the scale of the effort.”

About Wildlife Habitat Council:
For 30 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.

New White Paper Studies How Native Grasslands Mitigate Climate Change, Provide Habitat for Species at Risk and Improve Biodiversity

/by

SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 5, 2020 – Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) offers a new white paper available for download today, Native Grasslands Conservation – From small roadsides to vast landscapes, grassland habitats benefit corporate biodiversity and sustainability goals. The white paper is available for free on our website.

Grasslands are one of the most common habitat types in the world and one of the most threatened. An opportunity exists for corporations to manage privately owned grasslands in nature- friendly ways and for connectivity that will realize multiple values for many stakeholders, including benefits to climate change mitigation and adaptation, stormwater run-off, cost savings and aesthetics.

Native Grasslands Conservation highlights grassland projects of all shapes and sizes, from installing bird boxes to enhancing native grasslands in utility rights of way, showing how the private sector can meet a convergence of citizenship and operational goals that seek to reclaim grasslands and restore biodiversity. Case studies include:

Boeing: Emery Landfill
BP: Dutchman
DTE Energy: River Rouge Power Plant
Exelon: ROW, Buffalo Grove Prairie
General Motors: Chevrolet Logistics Center
ITC: ROW, Crow Island
Koch: Beaverhead Ranch

Sponsored by Ontario Power Generation, this white paper includes a forward by Aaron Del Pino, Vice President, Environmental Health & Safety, in which he states, “Reaching beyond our properties, OPG’s regional conservation partners have enhanced or created over 400 acres of grassland and wetland across southern Ontario. Through the coordinated efforts of corporations, conservation and research organizations, and education partners, along with support from groups like WHC, we can all help secure the long-term future of grassland species in North America.”

About Wildlife Habitat Council:
For 30 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.

New White Paper Studies How Nature-Based Employee Engagement Offers Meaningful Opportunities for Employees to Participate in Conservation

/by

SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 21, 2020 – Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) offers a new white paper available for download today, Nature-Based Employee Engagement – Perspectives on Corporate Programs that Offer Meaningful Opportunities for Employees to Participate in Conservation. The white paper is available for free on our website.

Employee engagement is an integral part of most workplaces today. With historically low unemployment rates, competition for talent acquisition and retention are driving companies to invest in engagement efforts for a competitive advantage. Employee engagement programs help companies compete for new talent and retain existing staff by meeting a variety of needs including work/life balance, health and wellness, and value to the companies in which they operate.

Nature-Based Employee Engagement highlights several WHC members’ employee engagement programs that are focused on conservation and biodiversity, offering meaningful and accessible opportunities for employees to get active, learn something new and make a positive contribution to the environment. Case studies include:

  • BASF: Florham Park
  • CEMEX: CEMEX Florida
  • CRH Americas: Dresden Site
  • ExxonMobil: Houston Campus
  • General Motors: São Caetano do Sul Complex
  • IBM: Research Triangle Park
  • Owens Corning: World HQ
  • Waste Management: Bucks County Landfills

Sponsored by Waste Management, this white paper includes a forward by Greg Cekander Vice President, Environmental Management Group, Waste Management, in which he states, “Our employees and volunteers protect preservation as we aim to leave places better than we find them. In fact, volunteer dedication was celebrated with the WHC 2019 Employee Engagement Award, recognizing our involvement in conservation through the sheer force of employee teams who participate in conservation education activities.”

About Wildlife Habitat Council:

For 30 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.

2019 WHC Awards Presented at the WHC Conservation Conference

/by

SILVER SPRING, MD, NOVEMBER 20, 2019 –  Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) announced the winners of its 2019 WHC Awards at the 2019 WHC Conservation Conference, held November 19-20 in Baltimore. The WHC Awards honor excellence in corporate conservation; recipients include both national and international companies across a variety of industry sectors. This year’s top awards, signifying leadership in conservation, were won by Bayer, Waste Management and Koch.

“WHC members are environmental leaders at national and global levels, as evidenced by Bayer, Waste Management, Koch and all of our award winners,” said Margaret O’Gorman, President, WHC. “These outstanding projects and programs are prime examples of the positive influence and impact that corporate conservation can have on biodiversity, local communities and employees. This year 64 Silver and 44 Gold Programs were recognized as exceeding minimum requirements and being exceptional.”

Bayer received the 2019 Corporate Conservation Leadership Award. The Corporate Conservation Leadership Award honors one company’s overall achievement in conservation efforts, and signifies an exemplary level of corporate commitment to biodiversity and conservation education, and meaningful alignments with global conservation objectives.

The Employee Engagement Award, given to Waste Management, recognizes a company’s involvement in conservation through the sheer force of its employee teams who participate in its habitat and conservation education activities.

Koch received the Gold Tier Program Award for its conservation efforts at the Beaverhead Ranch near Yellowstone National Park in Montana. Koch was also awarded the Land Conservation Agreements Award for the same project.

The Gold Program Award honors the overall conservation depth of one exceptional program. Projects are recognized for excellence in each of the WHC Project Guidance themes. This category offers projects of all sizes the ability to compete for recognition. Learn more about the Project Award criteria here.

BP was the year’s most honored company, picking up four awards in the following categories: Invasive Species, Wetlands, Avian (BP, Warm Springs Ponds) and Mammals (BP, Dutchman).

The following is a complete list of 2019 Project Award winners:

  • Avian: BP, Warm Springs Ponds
  • Awareness and Community Engagement: Dow, Ward Hollow Wildlife Habitat
  • Bats: Lafarge Canada, Onoway Wash Plant
  • Forests: Covia, Planta San Juan
  • Formal Learning: Freeport-McMoRan, Port Nickel
  • Grasslands: FCA, Dundee Engine Plant
  • Green Infrastructure: 3M, 3M Center
  • Integrated Vegetation Management: Exelon, Pepco Transmission Right of Way
  • Invasive Species: BP, Warm Springs Ponds
  • Land Conservation: Koch Industries, Beaverhead Ranch
  • Landscaped: Freeport-McMoRan, Miami
  • Mammals: BP, Dutchman,
  • Other Habitats: Vulcan Materials Company, Azusa Rock, East Side Reclamation Project
  • Other Species: Ontario Power Generation, Wesleyville Creek Brook Trout Program
  • Pollinator: Boeing, Emery Landfill – Wichita
  • Reptiles and Amphibians: Dow, Ward Hollow Wildlife Habitat
  • Training: Bayer, Chesterfield
  • Wetlands: BP, Warm Springs Ponds

Award finalists and winners were chosen from Conservation Certification applications submitted from January 1, 2019 – August 1, 2019 that were granted certification. Applications received after August 1, 2019 and applications what were in the appeals process in 2019 will be considered for the 2020 WHC Awards. Information on award criteria can be found on our website.

About Wildlife Habitat Council

For 30 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 48 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and 29 countries. To learn more, visit www.wildlifehc.org or follow @WildlifeHC on Twitter.

ArcelorMittal grants Wildlife Habitat Council $45,000 for Climate Initiative

/by

SILVER SPRING, Md. (September 16, 2019)  – Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) received $45,000 from the world’s leading integrated steel and mining company, ArcelorMittal, for its Climate Action Works initiative, a newly created initiative that is corporate-driven, community-minded and biodiversity-based.

With this grant, WHC hopes to build a framework that engages corporate landowners in leveraging their lands for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies that promote community resilience and ecosystem health. This framework directly supports ArcelorMittal’s stated objectives of increasing environmental sustainability and creating more sustainable communities.

The grant will allow WHC to convene a wide variety of stakeholders to identify obstacles and opportunities for climate-smart conservation on private sector lands. The goal is to increase awareness by business of the potential for natural climate solutions and identify a set of ecological stewardship options for diverse corporate lands.

Through this process, WHC hopes that more companies will be inspired to take action on their lands that meet their climate mitigation and adaptation goals. “The private sector has an opportunity to make land use and ecological restoration part of their climate plans,” said Margaret O’Gorman, president of Wildlife Habitat Council. “Our Climate Action Works initiative aims to highlight these opportunities and help companies take action in the communities where they operate and where their employees live and work.”

About Wildlife Habitat Council
 For 30 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 48 states and 29 countries.

About ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal is the world’s leading steel and mining company, with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 18 countries. Guided by a philosophy to produce safe, sustainable steel, we are the leading supplier of quality steel in the major global steel markets including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with world-class research and development and outstanding distribution networks.

For More Information
Emily Girsch  |  Wildlife Habitat Council  |  240.247.0906

Margaret O’Gorman Named to the Environmental Leader and Energy Manager 2019 Environment + Energy 100

/by

SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 14, 2019 – Margaret O’Gorman, President of the Wildlife Habitat Council has been named to the Environment + Energy Leader 100 by Environmental Leader and Energy Manager.

The Environment and Energy Leader 100 (E + E 100) is an annual program developed and run by Environmental Leader and Energy Manager Today recognizing leaders, innovators, shaker-uppers and doers in the environmental and energy management space.

“We are excited to announce the 2019 Honorees and celebrate the accomplishments of this elite class,” said Jennifer Hermes, Content Director of Business Sector Media. “The Environment + Energy Leader 100 program has doubled in growth since its inception and this year we are thrilled to recognize one hundred honorees that helped drive a product, program, company or the energy, environmental and sustainability industry as a whole.”

Honorees are nominated by peers and selected based on their impact on the industry or the company in which they work. They will be celebrated at the fourth annual Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference (ELEMCON), to take place May 13-15, 2019, at the Marriott Denver Tech Center.

About Wildlife Habitat Council

Wildlife Habitat Council partners with corporations, fellow conservation organizations, government agencies and community members to empower and recognize wildlife habitat and conservation education programs. Our members are environmental leaders at local, national and global levels, voluntarily managing their lands to support sustainable ecosystems and the communities that surround them. Since 1988, WHC has certified more than 1,000 habitat and education programs worldwide; WHC Conservation Certification programs can be found in 47 states and 28 countries. To learn more, visit www.wildlifehc.org or follow @WildlifeHC on Twitter.

For More Information

Monica Keller  |  Wildlife Habitat Council  |  240.247.0930

What Will Your Role Be? – A Conservation Conference Recap

/by

During last month’s 2018 WHC Conservation Conference, WHC President Margaret O’Gorman ended her opening remarks by asking the audience, What will your role be?

It was an apropos question for this group of almost 500 corporate executives, CSR and EHS professionals, and site managers gathered to further their respective company’s biodiversity, corporate sustainability and community relations goals.

During her annual State of Corporate Conservation address, Margaret celebrated three decades of change within the corporate community as it relates to the environment, and noted that while the corporate actions of the past created the situation of the present, corporate actions today will create the future.

“I think towards a time where the sustainability strategies mainstreamed inside the corporate workplace now mainstream nature outside, where corporate landowners’ contributions to recovery and restoration efforts bring back the color of biodiversity in urban, suburban, rural and wilderness areas and where finally the old arguments and divisions that have kept the private sector and civil society at loggerheads are settled and we’re all operating in a world of mutual respect, mutual benefit and productive conservation efforts.”

The degree of participation and enthusiasm shown by attendees throughout the two-day event was evidence of a willingness and hunger to participate in the environment in a positive manner. While the latest reports from the IPCC and the IPBES make for grim reading, the theme of the Conference was to take heart and create action in the emerging recognition of the importance of nature-based solutions as both mitigation pathways and adaptation strategies for climate, which will also result in co-benefits for people and planet.

Attendees from across industry sectors and corporate functions heard from their peers about innovative efforts happening on corporate lands that led to robust biodiversity outcomes and increased mainstreaming of efforts from ad hoc to strategic. Phillips 66 talked about its project to connect gas stations to the company’s overall biodiversity goal by encouraging native plantings at these unlikely locations; Exelon shared its methodology to create strategic plans for conservation, and a panel of corporate executives from Covia, Ontario Power Generation and Toyota introduced the mining, utility and car company of the future, showing how innovation in both technology and thought was spurring deep change for companies and consumers.

Partner organizations Bat Conservation International, the U.S. Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Pollinator Partnership, among others, provided content to the breakout sessions and presented their work in the exhibit hall beside consultants and government agencies promoting their programs to the attendees.

The most talked about event at the conference was rapper Baba Brinkman and his Rap Guide to Climate Chaos. Performed at the Paris Climate Conference and to popular acclaim off-Broadway, his energetic performance laid out the politics, economics and science of climate change, pulling no punches in its direct message to a very unique audience.

The core of WHC’s Conservation Conference is celebration. Over 20 awards were presented during the conference including three top awards that recognize corporate commitment to biodiversity. This year, DTE Energy received the 2018 Corporate Conservation Leadership Award for the depth and breadth of its commitment to biodiversity. The Employee Engagement Award was presented to Exelon in recognition of the strength and commitment of its employee teams participating in its habitat and conservation education activities. General Motors received the 2018 Gold Program Award for its conservation efforts at the GM Canada CAMI Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. These awards were presented during an often raucous but intensely celebratory dinner where Baba Brinkman returned for a wrap-up rap of the Conference happenings.

With 30 years under its belt, this event displayed clearly to WHC that there is an ever-growing audience of corporations across all industry sectors who are eager to make a difference in whatever way possible. They know that successful efforts at the site level will drive change for conservation action across entire organizations, and they know the answer to the question, What will your role be?

Read more WHC blogs.