NORTHAM PLATINUM CASE STUDY

Northam Platinum’s Booysendal Buttonshope Conservancy Trust

South Africa is a country rich and unique in biodiversity, and Northam’s Booysendal operations are fortunate to be managing an area that is richly endowed with exciting plant and animal species that needs protection. The Booysendal operation stretches across the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces and is situated within the Sekhukhuneland Centre of Plant Endemism (SCPE) and Lydenburg Centre of Plant Endemism (LCPE), in the Groot Dwarsrivier Valley. The vast majority of the area consists of untransformed grassland and bushveld vegetation grazed by wildlife and domestic livestock, much of which is in a near-pristine state. The Booysendal property encompasses several ecologically sensitive areas which are of critical conservation importance and are prioritised by conservation authorities, with some areas classified as irreplaceable.

In 2011 the Booysendal Buttonshope Conservancy Trust was established as a conservancy trust, with the principal objective of engaging in the conservation. Subsequent to its establishment in 2011, the trust acquired a substantial amount of land intended for conservation, including an offset area as agreed with the relevant authorities to offset land disturbed by the Booysendal operations.

The Buttonshope Conservancy Trust is governed by a board of trustees, which includes representatives from Northam, Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), academics and independent conservationists and environmental practitioners. The Trust agreement was developed with input from all parties and is a benchmark example of public–private collaboration. It commits the trust to further expand its offsets and the area of land under its management in line with the MTPA’s long-term conservation goals. Northam’s land management approach is funded by guaranteed revenue contributions from the Booysendal mine.

To date, the trust has acquired 3,339 hectares of land for designated offset areas, with the total acquisitions amounting to R21.3 million. In total, the Buttonshope Conservation Trust manages approximately 6,825 hectares of the approximately 12,800 hectares of freehold land owned by the Booysendal operation and by the trust.

More information is available in Northam’s annual sustainability report.