Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda I.A.P.  shortlisted for US$1M Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability

Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda I.A.P.  has been short listed for the US$1M Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability 2008, which is awarded annually by an international Adjudication Panel of distinguished sustainability experts.

Roberto Pedraza Muñoz said the short list honour acknowledged the work being done by Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda I.A.P.  in meeting the sustainable development challenges being faced in countries throughout the world.

“We are delighted to be short listed for the Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability in 2008. Being short listed for the Prize recognises the contribution we are making to sustainable development and provides our organisation with important visibility. We look forward to the announcement of the winner later this year.”  Viva Sierra Gorda, a San Francisco based partner with the Earth Island Institute, will upscale outreach in California to raise awareness and generate support for the Sierra Gorda region.

The global US$1M Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability is open to all not-for-profit, civil society and non-government organisations working to advance the goals of economic, environmental and social sustainability.

Rio Tinto global head of Health, Safety & Environment Elaine Dorward-King said Rio Tinto’s association with the Prize, through its acquisition of Alcan in 2007, provided Rio Tinto with an opportunity to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to sustainable development.

“For some time now, we have focused on integrating sustainable development considerations into our business plans and decision making processes at Rio Tinto. We believe performance across economic, social and environmental considerations is critical to sustaining not only our long term success, but also the world’s long term sustainability. We congratulate the short listed organisations for their achievements in meeting the economic, social and environmental challenges faced globally,” she said.

To facilitate an inclusive, rigorous and transparent management process for the award of the Prize, Rio Tinto partners with the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) which manages the entries and selection process. IBLF engages independent sustainability experts from around the world to ensure the process and decisions are made in an objective and consistent manner. Rio Tinto does not participate in the assessment process.

An international Adjudication Panel comprised of sustainable development experts and chaired by Director of Guelph Institute for the Environment, University of Guelph, Canada, and Former Minister for Environment in Canada, David Anderson selected the ten short listed organisations.

“The Prize received 117 entries from organisations throughout the world, working across a broad range of different and exciting initiatives. Having evaluated the entries, we believe we have ten short listed organisations which highlight the diversity and depth of talent, initiative and skills existing in the not-for-profit sector,” he said.

The Adjudication Panel will now conduct an in-depth review of the short listed organisations to select the winner of the Rio Tinto Prize. Nine short listed organisations receive a US$15,000 training grant to support training and development opportunities for the organisation.

The winner of the Rio Tinto Prize for Sustainability 2008 will be announced in June.

Further information about the short listed organisations can be found at www.riotintoprizeforsustainability.com

About Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda I.A.P. 

A grassroots citizen´s movement began 20 years ago in the rural mountains of central Mexico, forming a local organization, the Sierra Gorda Ecological Group (Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda), led by a social entrepreneur recognized by Ashoka and the Schwab Foundation.  Unknown only two decades ago, this territory of more than 1.4 million hectares holds considerable ecosystem and biodiversity wealth due to its privileged location at the transition between the Neartic and Neotropical bioregions and is home to a population of 100,000 residents, most of whom live in extreme poverty and 35% that migrate North seeking employment. The Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda social strategy for conservation has gained the direct participation of more than 20,000 residents every year among children and youth, women and landowners, making possible the restoration of vegetation and wildlife in the area, and mainstreaming considerable public and private resources to strengthen the regional economy and the population´s income.

 In the face of climate change, which is affecting the temperate and tropical forests of the area, Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda has developed different lines of action that converge to mitigate and fight the adverse impacts of this menace. Through a Social and Environmental Return on Investment Analysis, today they have hard numbers that generate successful ecosystem products for the global market. The Sierra Gorda has valued environmental services (carbon, water, biodiversity), promoting a new paradigm in which Nature is considered valuable infrastructure that generates services to counterbalance global climate change. These services are generated by forests in the hands of communities in extreme poverty. These communities are providers of globally-vital ecosystem services and must be compensated to assure the permanence of those forests and services.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed public company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

About International Business Leaders Forum

The International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation which works with business, governments and civil society to enhance the contribution that companies can make to sustainable development. Since 1990, IBLF has worked in over 90 countries. Current areas of work include raising sustainable business standards, improving prospects for enterprise and employment, and enabling companies to contribute to health and human development issues.

IBLF provides strategic counsel to companies to enable them to understand and respond to the development challenges that they face, particularly when operating in transition and emerging economies.

www.riotintoprizeforsustainability.com for more information about the finalist.