We have been working to preserve biodiversity for nearly 30 years.
In 1980, we formed the St. Fergus Dunes Management Committee in Scotland. Following the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, we established the Total Corporate Foundation for Biodiversity and the Sea, which has supported more than 200 research projects dedicated to enhancing knowledge to protect species and ecosystems.

To ensure that this policy is applied in the field, we have drawn up a Practical Biodiversity Guide, distributed since 2007.

Minimizing our footprint

Biodiversity is an integral part of the baseline surveys and environmental impact assessment conducted prior to each project.
Our aim is to gain knowledge and understanding of the ecosystems in the very diverse areas in which we operate, assess their vulnerability, identify the related environmental and/or social and economic issues and develop the most appropriate technical approach.

Our studies also define the protective measures to be taken on a case-by-case basis (such as creating wildlife corridors, reducing our physical footprint, preventing the introduction of invasive species, etc.) and measure our performance against specific indicators to determine the effectiveness of our initiatives.

In Yemen, for example, coral reefs were discovered during the environmental baseline survey prior to the launch of the Yemen LNG project. Project teams reacted by redesigning part of the plant's infrastructure and modifying plans for shoreline work in the port of Balhaf, to reduce the impact of construction on ocean currents, and coral and fish communities. The shore retaining wall was redesigned to avoid marine impacts and silt curtains were installed to protect the coral colonies from sediment from the construction work. Cooling water from the plant is discharged farther out to sea to prevent the rise in water temperature from affecting the coral.

In addition, 1,500 threatened coral colonies were moved 600 to 800 meters to a location where conditions are similar to their original habitat. This was the biggest transplantation operation ever undertaken anywhere in the world.
Scientists and experts have been observing the condition of the coral colonies since then.
They will continue their monitoring for the duration of site operations. Yemen LNG has also set up a partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to implement an observatory of marine biodiversity.
Moreover, Yemen LNG is working with the local environmental protection authority to assist in its introduction of a comprehensive coastal zone management plan.

Broadening our knowledge

We take part in scientific research and the advancement of knowledge through our research centers, the Total Foundation and the many research programs conducted in partnership with other bodies, including the French oceanographic research institute Ifremer, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

One of the programs supported by the Total Foundation was the Census of Marine Life, a network of researchers from more than eighty countries involved in a ten-year project (2000-2010) to inventory marine life. The Foundation supports six of the seventeen projects under this unique international program, which covers continental shelves, deepwater ecosystems, marine life in the Antarctic, the classification of species using bar codes and the creation of a deepwater database. The results of this enormous undertaking will be presented in London in October 2010.

We have also been supporting the French Biodiversity Research Foundation since 2008.

In addition to these initiatives, we have created biodiversity observatories at several sites representative of the diversity of our businesses, including a recent gas project in Yemen, an operating refinery in Feyzin, France, and the now-reclaimed site of a decommissioned chemical plant in Prémont, France.
Through these observatories, we hope to:

     - foster dialogue between all stakeholders (e.g., experts, NGOs, local authorities and communities),
     - gather more reliable data on a long-term basis in order to target our action plans more effectively,
     - and significantly broaden scientific knowledge.

(4) The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention (after the Iranian city in which it was adopted), is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.