Land

Rio Tinto's land management practices are governed by our land use stewardship standard. Through the implementation of the standard, our sites must develop management plans, programmes and procedures to ensure sustainable stewardship of land we own, lease or manage. The land use stewardship standard is significant as it applies primarily to land that is not used directly for mining, processing or ancillary activities.

When addressing land management issues we consider:

• the biodiversity values;
• the capabilities of the land holdings and immediate surroundings, including ecological services that the land provides or sustains; and
• social and cultural heritage values. These are the community values associated with access to land for resources or amenity, and the cultural and spiritual values of specific sites, landscapes and geographical features (eg water bodies) as well as plant or animal species.

We have a number of environmental standards to ensure we operate consistently worldwide and that our operations meet both internal and external expectations. Rio Tinto's land use stewardship standard is supported by a number of strategies, such as the biodiversity strategy, and aligned with closure, communities and cultural heritage management.

Integrating land stewardship and risk assessment into project decision making helps ensure an early and proper understanding of both the risks and opportunities for land management.

Collaborating with conservation organisations, such as our biodiversity partners or local groups, either through desk top studies or site visits, can help identify any issues and opportunities that affect project design or land management.

We belong to international and national policy development forums on land matters, and also participate in multi-lateral initiatives with organisations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme and the Convention on Biological Diversity. As a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals, we help to develop industry policies and practices on protected areas and long term access to land.