CARMEN COPPER GETS RESPONSIBLE MINING AWARD FROM DENR 7
DENR’s Gawad Tugas Awards now on its 4th year
In recognition of the company’s outstanding performance in the fields of safety, occupational health, environment and community development, Carmen Copper Corp. was awarded the 2018 Gawad Tugas for Responsible Mining in ceremonies held last June 27 at the Cebu Grand Convention Center, Cebu City.
The Gawad Tugas is conferred by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR) 7 to recognize its partners for their contribution towards effective environmental management and development.
It started in 2015 and now on its fourth year.
Carmen Copper also received the Gawad Tugas for Responsible Mining in 2015 and Gawad Tugas for Forest Protection and Management in 2017.
“Carmen Copper has been a role model in responsible mining. They have shown that mining can be done responsibly and dispel the notion that it is purely destructive,” said DENR 7 Director Gilbert Gonzales.
DENR also awarded other outstanding groups that contributed to: biodiversity conservation and management, enforcement of Environmental Laws, National Greening Program, protected area management, patent issuance, clean air and water, solid waste management, and Adoptan-Estero program.
“The responses from the different sectors and their initiatives, whether big or small, prove that all environmental issues can be resolved,” said Gonzales.
Since May 2017 to June 2018, Carmen Copper has planted a total of 30,776 seedlings on existing plantations and reforestation areas out of the 96,640 seedlings produced at its own plant nurseries.
Some seedlings were donated to different groups to contribute to their various reforestation initiatives and in support to the government’s National Greening Program.
More children from poor families were sent to school with the Carmen Copper scholarship program and more families were provided livelihood opportunities under the Social Development and Management Program.
In 2017 alone, the company spent P105 million in various social development projects that aims to improve the living conditions of the residents in its host and neighboring communities.
In November 2017, Carmen Copper was honored with the Titanium Achievement Award (surface mining category) of the Presidential Mineral Industry and Environmental Award.
To date, Carmen Copper has rehabilitated and enriched a total of 1,738.09 hectares planted with more than two million trees, of which 88 percent or about 1.8 million are thriving to this day.