Cemex programs across ten locations worldwide have earned the Wildlife Habitat Council’s (WHC) Conservation Certification. The recognitions were unveiled during the WHC Conservation Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Each year, the WHC Awards recognise programs and projects demonstrating excellence in corporate conservation.

Special recognition was given to Cemex’s El Carmen Nature Reserve (see image), which received the WHC’s Desert Project of the Year award for its work to protect and restore habitats of the Chihuahuan Desert. The reserve, located on the border between Mexico and the US, is one of the most biodiversity-rich areas in North America and one of the five great wilderness ecosystems in the world.

With 140,000 hectares, El Carmen is larger than the city of Los Angeles. It is home to more than 1,500 plant species and 450 animal species. This includes nearly 100 American bison, which Cemex and its partners successfully reintroduced to this area after over a century.

“We are constantly working to return to nature more than what we extract,” says Vicente Saisó, Cemex Vice President of Sustainability. “Our initiatives center on preserving and restoring ecosystems, protecting endangered species, and making our operations more environmentally friendly. Preserving, restoring, and enhancing nature is key for these efforts.”

In total, 32 Cemex programs currently have some level of WHC certification. Cemex’s conservation efforts are part of its Future in Action program. Future in Action seeks to achieve sustainable excellence through climate action, circularity, and natural resource management with the primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO2 company by 2050.