Environment. Being future-ready.

Biodiversity Management

This year Ambuja Cements Ltd. joined the Leader for Nature (LfN) membership of IUCN, India. The Company partners with other organisations and industry associations for biodiversity related policy management, assessment and reporting guidelines. Our environment and sustainability managers from the plants and corporate office were trained in Biodiversity Indicator and Reporting System (BIRS) assessment on the field by IUCN experts. BIRS is a simple system for assessing the overall biodiversity suitability of a defined site having different habitat types, expressed as ‘site condition class’ on a scale of 1-10. It takes into account the area of every habitat type on a site, the ecological condition of these habitats (including enhancements and threats), and the uniqueness and ecological importance of each habitat in the regional context. It does not assign an absolute value to the biodiversity, but can be used as a tool to measure its relative progress or degradation. In 2016, we completed baseline BIRS assessment for our Darlaghat site. We plan to complete BIRS assessment for all our integrated plants with mining sites in 2017 and achieve ‘Positive Change in Biodiversity by 2030’, aligned with our Group’s commitment towards sustainability. We are aligned with LafargeHolcim’s new Quarry Rehabilitation and Biodiversity Directive as well as LafargeHolcim Sustainable Development Ambitions 2030 that obligate us to increase our focus on biodiversity protection initiatives.

Ambuja Cements Ltd. is a signatory to the India Business and Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and GIZ. We voluntarily reported our biodiversity performance in 2016 (comprehensive) towards our IBBI Declaration commitments. The report included our biodiversity mapping; the relevance of our biodiversity and ecosystem services in various phases of our value chain (own operations, suppliers, use phase, endof-life, transport); training and awareness activities for biodiversity protection; risks, opportunities and impact; etc.

The Company is partnering with various organisations and industry associations in India for biodiversityrelated policy development, biodiversity assessment and reporting guidelines. We invited IUCN experts this year to conduct BIRS training for our environment and sustainability managers. Various events are conducted annually to sensitise our employees, school children and the community to the importance of biodiversity protection and conservation. Local NGOs are supported in creating awareness in the villages surrounding our plants. We supported an NGO in Gujarat to organise training to protect the sea turtle. Every year, ACF organises vaccination and health camps for cattle and the forest community in villages surrounding the Gir Sanctuary, in coordination with the Forest Department, to prevent the Gir wildlife from picking up diseases from local cattle. ACF has undertaken several livelihood and supporting activities in villages around the Gir and Majathal sanctuaries (Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh respectively) and around other plants. The programmes include afforestation; fodder development; animal husbandry; distribution of around 10,000 smokeless cooking stoves; biogas plants; demo and training on agriculture and allied activities though Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK); composting units in villages; and organic farming with minimal use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Ambuja Cements Ltd. proactively implements measures at its integrated cement plants and mining sites to ensure that the local biodiversity is not disturbed. We have initiated a water positive programme around mining sites to minimise the water requirement from natural resources. Trees are planted on the overburden on the mines and at the mine lease boundaries.

Green belts in and around the plant and mine areas, achieved after years of hard work, have transformed the land around our sites to greener habitats. The green belt counteracts the negative impact of mining by reducing dust pollution and absorbing carbon emissions. Ambuja Cement connects with the local people through community welfare programmes. Check dams that conserve water in the rainy season help in recharging the ground water table; the increased availability of water enables people in the water-scarce regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan to grow multiple crops during a longer period of the year, increasing their livelihood. It also preserves the biodiversity of the region. Use of local agricultural fodder as biomass for power generation helps in minimising greenhouse gas emission and provides additional income to the farmers from the sale of biomass to the Company.

All operating sites of Ambuja Cement have been assessed for environment impact and systems are put in place to prevent the occurrence of adverse impacts. Protected areas like the Majathal Sanctuary and Darlaghat Conservation Reserve are situated within 10 km of our mining or plant operations at Darlaghat; Gir Sanctuary lies within 10 km of a mining site at Ambujanagar. For Darlaghat, the Company has prepared a wildlife conservation plan for key species; the plan has been approved by the State Government. We contributed ` 97.5 lakh in 2015 and about ` 58 lakh in 2016 to the state exchequer for the implementation of this plan. We also initiated implementation of a comprehensive biodiversity action plan (BAP) prepared for our Ambujanagar site. Our Rabriyawas plant has initiated ‘natural capital profile assessment’ under the guidance of the Indian Business Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI). Our operations do not significantly impact the biodiversity of these sites. The total number of IUCN Red List species and National Conservation List species with habitats in areas affected by our operations are given in the Sustainability Performance table at the end of this Report.

Sustainable mining practices protect and enhance the landscape and biodiversity value of the area around our mines. Such practices include use of surface miners, controlled blasting to minimise dust and noise, covered transportation of raw material, development of water bodies and pastureland, plantation of native species, and land rehabilitation. Some of our sites have become good nesting and breeding habitats for migratory and local avifauna. In Gujarat, we undertook mangrove plantation in about 150 hectares with the help of the Gujarat Ecology Commission. Since 2007, the Company has constructed parapet walls around 1,320 open wells in 17 villages around the Gir Sanctuary, covering 100 square km, in association with the Forest Department, to prevent wild animals from accidentally falling and drowning in the wells. Mining operations and transportation of raw materials are carried out only during the day near the protected areas. All mine tippers are provided with a multi-cap covering system to avoid spillage of material during transportation. Haul roads are continuously swept and sprinkled with water to prevent dust from getting airborne. All sites have developed green belts in and around the mine lease and plant areas.