BHP

As a leading global resources company, sustainability is at the heart of BHP’s strategy and is embedded throughout the organisation.

BHP is committed to helping build climate change resilience for the long term to ensure the future of the biodiversity and ecosystems on which our world depends. The company is constantly challenging itself, and its people, to do more to support the environments in which they operate.

Since 2007, BHP and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation have been working together to fund research to protect and restore the Great Barrier Reef – a global company supporting a global treasure.

With a longstanding partnership spanning the Foundation’s Chairman’s Panel, active participation in employee engagement programs, and support for major science projects, BHP has contributed leadership, expertise, time and more than $15 million for the Great Barrier Reef. 

BHP's membership of the Chairman’s Panel has been continuous since 2007. A strong history of employee engagement has seen more than 50 staff from across the company engage in Reef programs, from the CReefs employee engagement program across 2007-2010 and the ZooX Ambassador Program from 2009-2014, to ReefBlitz from 2014-2015.

Three staff participated in highly coveted research trips to Raine Island in 2015.

Scientific discoveries, high-tech advances and ecosystem restoration – BHP’s forward-thinking investments in the Great Barrier Reef are creating a significant impact.

CReefs

Hundreds of previously unknown marine species were discovered during the Australian component of the global census of coral reefs, part of the international Census of Marine Life project to catalogue all life in the oceans.

eReefs

The six year, $30M eReefs project collaboration is developing publicly accessible, digital tools that provide vital information for the Reef, transforming the way scientists, managers and other Reef users can check on its status. The eReefs Marine Water Quality Dashboard is available online. Scientists are now working to develop a complete seven-day forecast for the Reef that will be publicly accessible on the Bureau of Meteorology website.

Raine Island Recovery Project 

The ecosystem supporting the world’s largest green turtle nesting population is the focus of this five year, $7.95M collaboration between BHP, the Queensland Government, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Wuthathi Nation and Kemerkemer Meriam Nation (Ugar, Mer, Erub) Traditional Owners and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. The project aims to protect and restore the island’s critical habitat to ensure the future of key marine species, including green turtles and seabirds.

Reef Resilience Framework

This world-leading project will have global impact, helping reef managers internationally to assess and prioritise reef threats and challenges, and then implement strategies for climate change resilience planning.

BHP also supported the Foundation to develop its research portfolio in 2011.

• Leadership through membership of the Foundation’s Chairman’s Panel since 2007
• Employee engagement since 2008 through ZooX and ReefBlitz programs, field research for CReefs and the Raine Island Recovery Project, and Reef Talks for World Oceans Day
• $15.4M invested in collaborative science to protect and restore the Great Barrier Reef
• Discovery of over 100 new marine species through the CReefs project that documented coral reef biodiversity across the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef
• Developing publically accessible digital tools for the Reef, akin to the Bureau of Meteorology for weather, through the eReefs collaboration
• Building the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef for future generations and ensuring the survival of key marine species including green turtles and seabirds through the Raine Island Recovery Project
• Showcasing the Raine Island Recovery Project at Brisbane’s World Science Festival to an audience of more than 20,000