Anglo American Quellaveco
Quellaveco
Moquegua, , Peru
Certified through 2025
Project Name
Project Type
Quellaveco deja Huella Verde
Forest
About the Program
Anglo American Quellaveco (AAQ), a copper mine, is located and operates in a high-mountain semi-arid Andean ecosystem in Peru. This region is home to forests dominated by Polylepis spp. (queñua), which has been listed by IUCN as threatened. Polylepis forests have increasingly suffered from habitat loss and fragmentation and are mainly found on steep and less accessible valley slopes between 3,500 and 4,900 meters. It is estimated that in Peru, Polylepis forests cover only 4% of their original distribution. AAQ has committed to voluntarily protecting and restoring a 100-hectare Polylepis forest located within its operational boundary at Alto Asana. To achieve this, AAQ established a native plant nursery to supply 30 species that will be used in reforestation.
Practices and Impacts
Anglo American Quellaveco (AAQ), a copper mine, is located and operates in a high-mountain semi-arid Andean ecosystem in Peru. This region is home to forests dominated by Polylepis spp. (queñua), which has been listed by IUCN as threatened. Polylepis forests have increasingly suffered from habitat loss and fragmentation and are mainly found on steep and less accessible valley slopes between 3,500 and 4,900 meters. It is estimated that in Peru, Polylepis forests cover only 4% of their original distribution. AAQ has committed to voluntarily protecting and restoring a 100-hectare Polylepis forest located within its operational boundary at Alto Asana. To achieve this, AAQ established a native plant nursery to supply 30 species that will be used in reforestation.
Practices and Impacts
- Over 120,000 seedlings of various species have been produced in the AAQ nursery since 2020, of which 5,599 Polylepis seedlings were planted between 2021 - 2023, covering 14.4 hectares. The team contracts with herdsmen in the local agricultural community to provide continuous surveillance of the forest and report illegal activities. Quellaveco has also implemented an environmental education plan has that encourages local residents, educational institutions and interested public to visit the area and verify the success of conservation actions.
