The Group has taken a pioneering role in national and international efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity on the planet, signing up to the European Business and Biodiversity initiative promoted in Portugal by the ICNB (Institute for Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation) and to the Countdown 2010 targets. The Group has committed itself to meeting specific aims in controlling the impacts of its operations, and to extending this strategy to its workforce, partners and timber suppliers. These principles are set out in the Biodiversity Declaration adopted by the Group.
In its quest to preserve biodiversity, the Group has been involved in the New Generations Plantations Project, coordinated by WWF International 
. This type of plantations maintains the integrity of ecosystems and the factors that classify forests as being of high conservation value, providing for effective stakeholder participation and contributing to economic growth and employment.
Biodiversity was a central theme in the 2010-2011 Sustainability Report and also in the international seminar organized by the Group on "Biodiversity. An Asset with a Future", which brought together leading Portuguese and international experts in the field of biodiversity conservation.
This is an area in which the Portucel Group has invested heavily and the preservation of the habitats and species identified in its woodlands holdings has been integrated into its forest management procedures. An example of this is its work in protecting Bonelli’s Eagle , a bird of prey classified as endangered in Portugal. The Group has collaborated with CEAI (Iberian Centre for Birdlife Research) on a LIFE Nature project, implementing protective measures on its properties.
The Group's approach to biodiversity issues has in fact been the subject of case studies in four national and international publications, two of which were recently disseminated at the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) in Nagoya, Japan, in e-publications launched by the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) and by the WWF's New Generation Plantations Project.
The defence of biodiversity is regarded by the Portucel Soporcel group as the key to environmentally responsible production and sustainable forest management, assuring the viability of its operations in the future.
The commitment to biodiversity has always been a natural concern for the Portucel Soporcel group, and has been actively embraced by its management. Examples of the group's policy for wildlife conservation and multiple land use include the excellent wines produced at the Espirra Estate and the arboretum at Quinta de São Francisco
, which has one of the best collections of eucalyptus in the country, as well as other rare woodlands species.
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World Wide Fund for Nature 
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Quinta de São Francisco (PDF Book)
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Biodiversity Brochure (PDF)
Documents
