Charity criticised for links to Anglo-American mining proposals

Fauna and Flora International (FFI), a charity whose patron is the Queen and whose supporters include Sir David Attenborough and Stephen Fry, has been criticised for accepting a contract from British-listed mining company Anglo-American. FFI has been hired to evaluate the environmental worth of Viiankiaapa, a 65 sq km national park in Finland, which is home endangered to species and indigenous reindeer herders. FFI will assess whether alternative land could provide “compensation” for wetlands damaged through mining for copper, gold, nickel and platinum. Anglo-American abandoned the Pebble project in Alaska in 2013 after FFI withdrew its co-operation.
Environmentalists and indigenous reindeer herders are calling on the Queen, Sir David Attenborough and Stephen Fry to disassociate themselves from a charity contracted to help a mining operation in a national park in Finland.

Fauna and Flora International (FFI), whose patron is the Queen, has been hired by the British-listed mining company Anglo American to assess the environmental value of Viiankiaapa, a stunning 65 sq km (25 sq mile) habitat for 21 endangered bird species in the Arctic circle.

The research includes an assessment of whether equivalent land could be offered as “compensation” for wetlands damaged by the extraction of massive deposits of platinum, nickel, copper and gold.

But Jukka Kaaretkoski, a reindeer herder of Sami ancestry from nearby Kersilö, told the Guardian that the drilling would take a heavy environmental toll and be a “terminal” blow for local herders whose animals graze there.

“Mines cause traffic, noise, grit, pollution and contamination of water supplies,” he said. “Many young reindeer herders are in danger of losing their future livelihoods because of it. We cannot even plan for the future because of the fear and insecurity. ”

Riikka Karppinen, a Green party councillor in the local Sodankylä municipality, added: “I think this is colonialism, because the big mining company has come here from another country and we are in too weak a position to protect our homeland.”

About 90 bird species live in Viiankiaapa – including pygmy owls to broad-billed sandpipers – many nesting amid the bogs and moors that host a variety of endangered plant species.

The ruff is among some 90 bird species living in Viiankiaapa, many of which nest amid the bogs and moors that host a variety of endangered plant species. Photograph: Timo Helle

But tailings – toxic waste from ore extraction – from other mining operations have been seeping into lakes and rivers around the town of Sodankylä, according to Der Spiegel.

Anglo American has already drilled 180 holes in the territory – more than half within a designated conservation area – although this work has been paused pending a ruling by the Finnish supreme court on an environmental appeal, now expected this autumn.

“I’d like to ask the Queen and those celebrities [endorsing FFI] whether they truly know what they are supporting,” Kaaretkoski said. “They may think they are helping nature, or people like us to protect our land, but this work is helping to destroy these things. We would like them to disassociate themselves from it.”

Neither Fry nor Attenborough, vice-presidents of the charity, were available to respond, while Buckingham palace declined to comment, referring enquiries to FFI.

Pippa Howard, FFI’s director of business and biodiversity, said: “We are opposed to extraction in protected areas and do not promote it, but where such activities are taking place with the support of host governments, one makes sure that best environmental practice is being applied.”

FFI believes that Anglo American is committed to best environmental practice but conceded that there was “a reputational risk” involved in the partnership. In 2013, Anglo American pulled out of the controversial Pebble project in Alaska, shortly after FFI ended its involvement.

Big companies such as Anglo have often been stalled by environmental complaints, only to be replaced by smaller, less scrupulous competitors, she added.

Joanna Kuntonen-van’t Riet, Anglo American’s environmental lead in Finland, backed this up. “Once a project like this has been found which is rich [in mineral deposits], the reality is that if we walked away, someone else is 110% sure to come and take our place,” she said.

FFI is open about its partnership with the firm and says that Anglo American has also financially supported its livelihoods and governance programme, as well as other more strategic projects.

Howard did not know how much this support was worth but “it is not millions, not even hundreds of thousands for sure,” she said.

FFI’s study for Anglo American was contracted at commercial rates, and aims first to establish the nature and character of ecological and wildlife value on the site.

“It will also see whether or not there are areas as important or equivalent in landscape which may benefit from restoration or protection in some form through the contribution of the company in the longer term,” Howard said.

In environmental circles this is called “biodiversity offsetting”, the conservation or restoration of a site of equivalent natural value to one which been destroyed.

It is required under EU law but critics argue that nature cannot be commodified in this way and that, in practice, such schemes often pave the way for environmentally damaging projects.

Hannah Aho, a conservation expert for the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, said that in Lapland the argument was disputed: “Viiankiaapa is not only a unique area in Finland, but in Europe. A mine would mean losing it altogether. Compensation is simply not possible in areas of such high value for biodiversity. It is also hypothetical, because other areas as large as Viiankiaapa no longer exist.”

Drilling would take a heavy environmental toll, reindeer herders say. Photograph: Timo Helle

As the peatlands of Sompio were submerged beneath the Lokka reservoir in the 1960s, other areas would have to be restored to resemble Viiankiaapa, she said.

Anglo American says that it will be at least 10 years before any mine is opened there. Company assessments showed that its exploration work so far has caused “no significant impacts” on the site, according to Kuntonen-van’t Riet.

She said: “If at the end of day, our technical studies show that the [protected] area is irreplaceable and we will impact on it in such a way that we can’t compensate, Finnish legislation won’t allow it to take place, our principles won’t allow it and EU law won’t allow it.”

In the autumn, the firm plans to establish a technical committee to consult widely on the methodology for establishing whether the site is irreplaceable. “But at the moment, they [FFI] haven’t raised any red flags saying there is a fatal flaw and it can’t be done,” Kuntonen-van’t Riet said.

“They are free to walk away, but we haven’t got to that stage yet and hopefully we won’t.”