Biodiversity conservation

Siberia, where RUSAL’s core smelting capacities are located, is home to a rich diversity of fauna and flora species, many of which are endemic to the region.

The Altai-Sayan mountains, a natural border between Siberia’s steppe and taiga, are a unique ecoterritory that has been earmarked by WWF as part of the Global 200 list, which includes the world’s priority regions for conservation. The Altai- Sayan ecoregion is a habitat for 143 kinds of mammals, 425 bird species, 25 species of reptiles and 79 kinds of fish. The region’s flora is represented by 3,726 kinds of plants.

RUSAL holds itself accountable for preserving the unique nature of Siberia. The company is the General Partner of Russia’s national environmental fund Strana Zapovednaya (The Reserved Land), which focuses on the conservation of Russia's endangered ecoregions. Together with the UNDP and the government of Russia the fund is carrying out a project to preserve the biodiversity in the Russian part of the Altai-Sayan territory.

Having joined the fund in 2004, RUSAL finances the majority of its programmes. Between 2009 and 2010, the partnership of RUSAL and Strana Zapovednaya resulted in the following projects:

• RUSAL ECO: patrolling the protected areas of the Altai-Sayan region;
• The Park March: an annual global project, aimed at preserving the unique ecoregions across Russia and CIS;
• Green Patrol and Ecocamps: children environmental education projects;
• Take under your wing: a project, aimed at improving the conditions for animals kept in the Khakas zoo.

One of the most important projects held by RUSAL in partnership with the Strana Zapovednaya fund is the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Programme that involves exploring six of the Altai-Sayan region’s areas to estimate the environmental conditions, identify the major risks and develop strategies to mitigate those.