Freeport-McMoRan’s Pollinator Conservation Initiative Enhances Pollinator Habitats and Provides Pollinator Protection Education
Since 2011, Freeport-McMoRan’s Pollinator Conservation Initiative has sought to increase the habitat for pollinators and to provide learners of all ages with opportunities to engage with topics in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Today, more than a dozen Freeport-McMoRan operations in North America have implemented pollinator conservation and education projects both on and off company property.
These programs have been recognized through the Wildlife Habitat Council’s (WHC) Conservation Certification program.
Freeport-McMoRan’s Miami operations in Arizona maintains a pollinator garden that hosts not only a diversity of native wildflowers, but also provides a butterfly puddle (a water source), and a bee block for native wood-nesting solitary bees.
Invasive species are regularly managed using best management practices in consultation with conservation experts. The garden also serves as an outdoor classroom for students to learn about pollinator conservation and other relevant STEM topics. Freeport-McMoRan’s Copper Queen Branch and Sierrita operations have taken a different approach to pollinator conservation, and both sites have collaborated with schools in their communities to establish native wildflower gardens on school grounds that serve as outdoor classrooms.
In addition, numerous operations use their reclamation areas to promote pollinator and wildlife habitat. A diversity of native plants (comprising grasses, forbs, wildflowers, woody shrubs and trees) are included in sites’ reclamation seed mix to bolster ecosystem diversity, structure and function.
To learn more about how Freeport-McMoRan promotes opportunities to conserve and enhance wildlife resources in the areas in which they operate, visit fcx.com.
Please see the 2018 Working Toward Sustainable Development Report for more information on all of their social, economic and environmental efforts.
