Inco and WWF-Canada have announced a new C$1 million agreement to advance a number of conservation initiatives, both in Canada and internationally. Under the terms of the agreement, Inco will contribute C$200,000 per year to WWF-Canada for the next five years in support of a three-pronged conservation programme with the following objectives: 1) conserve species at risk of national and global importance in Canada; 2) develop a conservation stewardship approach for Inco in Canada; and 3) scope and explore work of a similar nature in areas where Inco operates internationally.

Inco will continue to support WWF-Canada’s efforts to conserve globally important species-at-risk in Canada by investing in the Endangered Species Recovery Fund, a joint effort led by Environment Canada and WWF-Canada. A second component of the new programme will involve identifying species and habitats that have a high conservation value in the eco-regional neighbourhood of Inco operations and developing appropriate conservation strategies, beginning with Inco’s Ontario operations. Finally, Inco and WWF will work together to explore potential joint initiatives in appropriate international Inco locations.

“We look forward to taking our long-standing relationship with WWF-Canada to a new level,” said Bill Napier, Inco Vice-President Environment, Safety and Health. “Among other benefits, we believe that their expertise will result in better conservation stewardship in the lands that adjoin our operations, not just in Canada but at our other locations around the world.” “We have a track record of engaging with companies to reduce their ecological footprint. WWF works with big industry, like mining and forestry, because it is vital to achieve our conservation goals,” said Arlin Hackman, Chief Conservation Officer for WWF-Canada. “Expanding our relationship with Inco is a logical and welcome next step for us both. We are excited about what we can accomplish together.”

For the past two decades, Inco has supported WWF-Canada on a number of environment projects, including the Endangered Species Recovery Fund and the Manitoba Ecologically Sensitive Areas Project. In 2004, in an exercise sponsored by Corporate Knights magazine, the CEOs of Inco and WWF-Canada traded jobs for a day to gain a better understanding of one another’s organizations.