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Operating in protected areas
Respecting protected areas is part of our company-wide biodiversity standard. This includes contributing to the protection and maintenance of protected areas, and following strict operating practices in areas of high biodiversity value.
Operating in protected areas
We believe there are some areas too sensitive to operate in, in particular natural World Heritage Sites. But we also believe that through a transparent process, partnerships and stringent operating practices, it is possible to operate responsibly in some areas under protection or of high biodiversity value.
We define areas of high biodiversity value as:
- IUCN Category I-VI protected areas.
- Wetlands of International Importance designated under the Ramsar Convention.
- Natura 2000 sites as determined under the European Birds Directive and Habitats Directive.
- Important Bird Areas as defined by Birdlife International.
- Biosphere Reserves designated under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme.
We announced the following four commitments in 2003:
- We will not explore for, or develop, oil and gas resources in natural World Heritage Sites.
- We will further improve the way we operate in IUCN Category I-IV protected areas, and areas of high biodiversity value.
- We will publicly report on our activities in IUCN Categories I-IV.
- We will work with IUCN and others to help safeguard protected areas.
Our approach to protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value is summarised in the diagram below:
Our approach to protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value
IUCN Category I-IV protected areas
There are five companies we operate with activities in six IUCN Category I-IV Protected Areas:
Name of protected area | IUCN Category | Shell business unit, Country | Type of activity (1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anduki Forest Reserve | Ia | Brunei Shell Petroleum Company, Brunei | Wells |
| Barrow Island | Ia | Shell Australia Limited, Australia | Aviation fuelling facility |
| Urhonigbe | Ia | Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, Nigeria | Wellheads, pipelines and flowstation |
| Kakadu National Park | II | Shell Australia Limited, Australia | Aviation fuelling facility |
| Lord Howe Island | II | Shell Australia Limited, Australia | Aviation fuelling facility |
| Dollard Nature Conservation Area | III | Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij, Netherlands | Monitoring well |
| Ameland Nature Conservation Area | IV | Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij, Netherlands | Production facility, pipeline |
| Delta | IV | Shell Oil, USA | Pipeline |
| Gilli-Gilli Game Reserve | IV | Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, Nigeria | Seismic survey, pipelines, wellheads |
Note: (1) Refers to current production activities and infrastructure for current or future production and transportation of hydrocarbons. This also includes exploratory activities and regular visits to the area, for example, for pipeline inspections, or reservoir monitoring through monitoring wells.
Biodiversity action plans
As part of our commitments we require biodiversity action plans for all major Shell operations in IUCN Category I-IV Protected Areas and other areas of high biodiversity value.
These plans to conserve biodiversity help us set targets, define specific actions and monitor progress to comply with our biodiversity standard.
We use guidance from IPIECA/OGP ("A Guide to Developing Biodiversity Action Plans for the Oil and Gas Sector" (PDF, 782 KB) - opens in new window) as the basis for developing each plan. We have also developed training programmes to help our operations implement them.
By the end of 2008, we had biodiversity action plans in place at eight major operations in areas of high biodiversity value. This included six operations in places designated by the IUCN as Category I-IV protected areas.