The Minerals Industry Can Enhance Biodiversity

The Minerals Industry Can Enhance Biodiversity
Differing levels of understanding biodiversity
issues result in a range of concerns for conserving
biodiversity and minimizing negative human impacts.
Most people have an inherent concern for the environment
and some degree of knowledge of the impacts of
living in a heavily degraded or polluted area. Few
people have absolutely no concern for the environment
or wildlife and would go to any degree of
degradation to make a profit. However, many people
do not have a good understanding of Oklahoma’s
biodiversity and how a small negative action that
appears to be insignificant may be magnified throughout
the natural community and ecosystem. Much of
the controversy over maintaining a clean environment
and conserving biodiversity stems from a lack of
understanding about natural community functions and
how easily they are degraded.
During recent decades, the American public has
become increasingly concerned with the loss of
natural communities and species. A variety of environmental
groups has publicized examples of habitat
destruction and pollution. Individuals or companies
that severely degrade the environment cast shadows
on industry as a whole as polluters and destroyers of
habitat. Government regulations enacted to reduce the
occurrence of such abusive situations are perceived as
meddlesome and extreme. Much of this has resulted
in a series of groups that have become polarized in
their views and tolerate very little movement toward
a workable solution.
Increasing public concern about the size of government
have been expressed and ways to reduce the
number of employees and taxes are being explored.
At the same time, the public continues to want a clean
environment and healthy ecosystems. Because governmental
regulations have been the traditional mechanism
for conserving biodiversity and the environment,
these goals appear to be mutually exclusive.
While the traditional method of conserving an
important natural community has been for a governmental
agency to purchase the land and manage it as
a wildlife refuge, the theory that these areas could be
managed as islands of biodiversity has, in most cases,
proven false. Changes in the land matrix surrounding
these islands have significant impacts on the natural
communities occurring within the boundaries. Species
have disappeared from many of these public areas.
Demands for multiple use of public lands (e.g., mining,
timber production, grazing, recreation) may
increase the stress on these areas.
All of these factors point out that if Oklahoma is to
conserve the biodiversity that makes it unique, all
Oklahomans must recognize their responsibility to
conserve biodiversity within their activities. Oklahomans
must find ways to incorporate biodiversity
concerns with our economic and recreational activities
so that they may complement, rather than oppose, one
another. Polarized stances must be relaxed so that
workable solutions may be found and implemented.
Because 95 percent of Oklahoma is in private ownership,
conservation efforts must work with private
landowners to find ways they can successfully manage
biodiversity. If the movement toward less government
continues, it will be increasingly important for individuals
and companies to implement measures that
complement biodiversity on a voluntary basis.
Although the importance of biodiversity to the
minerals industry may not be as obvious as it is to
some other fields, mineral producers have a number of
reasons to maintain high levels of biodiversity. Due
to past abuses of the environment by some irresponsible
operators, mining and petroleum producers have
experienced a lowered public image. Many people
view these industries as entirely destructive to the
environment. However, by integrating various measures
that incorporate biodiversity conservation into
these vital industries, this public image may be enhanced.
Examples where natural communities are
104 The Minerals Industry Can Enhance Biodiversity
Using native shrubs and grasslands can enhance
mineral operations and local biodiversity.
restored or used in an operation may be publicized to
emphasize that economic profitability and biodiversity
may act in concert. As companies include biodiversity
concerns in their operations during planning, implementation
and rehabilitation phases, public perception
and support for the industry will increase.
Proper planning of an operation is very important
in determining the ultimate impact on biodiversity.
Ideally, an initial survey of the biodiversity in the area
may be used to highlight the location for the project
most suitable to minimize its impact. An understanding
of potential impacts on the natural community will
enable the planner to identify alternative production
activities. The planner may wish to determine which
areas would be impacted least and would be the
easiest to restore. Production activities could be
concentrated in those areas.
Natural communities may directly benefit the
producer by performing needed functions. Diverse
areas are generally more stable than monocultures
during adverse environmental conditions. After being
established, a diverse native vegetative community
will provide more reliable erosion control during
droughts or floods with fewer costs for pesticides,
fertilizer and water. An adjacent buffer zone of
vegetation may slow the spread of a spill and lower its
impact on aquatic communities, also lowering the cost
o f c l e a n u p .
Vegetation also may be used to trap dust, reduce
noise, collect sediment and other materials in runoff
water, and provide windbreaks to reduce wind erosion
and drifting snow.
Restoration costs may be lower in areas of high
diversity than in monocultures, since populations of
plant species surrounding the site may naturally
recolonize the disturbed area. Generally, once an area
has been disturbed it may be more difficult to return it
to its original productivity, especially if it was supporting
an agricultural crop. Location of projects on
the fringe of such monocultures, rather than in a more
interior site, has benefits for biodiversity. Such a
location could be more readily restored to a diverse
plant community. These sites would promote increased
biodiversity and would not interfere or detract
significantly from continued management of the
remaining agricultural field.
Native species present in surrounding areas will
often voluntarily establish themselves on a disturbed
area. In these instances, opportunistic native plants
require only minimal encouragement to become
established on the disturbed site and begin the vegetative
restoration of the site.
Environmental regulations on minerals production
were enacted to remedy and prevent problems, the
difficulty of working within these regulations may
decline as biodiversity improves within the state and
nation. Improved biodiversity management and
restoration will slow or reverse declines in species
populations, resulting in fewer species being listed as
threatened or endangered and aid the recovery of those
currently listed. As natural communities are restored,
it should become less complicated to comply with
regulations and permit requirements
As companies and landowners better understand
biodiversity concerns, they will be more willing to
work to find solutions and comply with regulatory or
permit processes. People will become aware of the
concept of biodiversity and will begin to grasp how it
is important to them as individuals, companies and a
society. With this knowledge it will not seem as
burdensome to them to plan to accommodate ways to
improve biodiversity through their everyday actions.
They will be more willing to design workable solutions
to meld biodiversity and economic concerns.