2020 WHC Award Winners and Finalists

Corporate Conservation Leadership Award

  • Winner! CEMEX

Employee Engagement Award

  • Winner! DTE Energy

Gold Program of the Year Award

  • Winner! Fidelity Investments, Smithfield, Rhode Island

Ibis Award

  • Winner! Bacardi, Bacardi Bottling Corporation

Avian Project Awardfinalists:

  • Exelon, R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Station
  • Freeport-McMoRan, Tyrone
  • Winner! Muskegon County Wastewater Management System, Wastewater Facility
Awareness and Community Engagement Project Awardfinalists:
  • Winner! CEMEX, Huichapan “Cerro Pardo” y “Puzolana” (Mexico)
  • CEMEX, Atotonilco: Cerro Jardín + Xoyatla + Coayuca (Mexico)
  • Toyota, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas
Bats Project Awardfinalists:
  • Winner! Argos, Newberry Plant
  • Marathon Petroleum, Washington Park
  • Marathon Petroleum, Hutsonville School Nature Habitat
Desert Project Awardfinalists:
  • Winner! CEMEX, El Carmen Nature Reserve
  • Waste Management, Greater Wenatchee Regional Landfill and Recycling Center
Forest Project Awardfinalists:
  • ExxonMobil, Cold Lake Operations
  • Winner! Fidelity Investments, Smithfield, Rhode Island
  • Marathon Petroleum, Washington Park
Formal Learning Project Awardfinalists:
  • Winner! Benjamin Moore, Pell City, Alabama
  • Marathon Petroleum, Savage Branch Wildlife Reserve
Grasslands Project Awardfinalists:
  • Marathon Petroleum, Prairie Park
  • Winner! Waste Management, Kirby Canyon Recycling and Disposal Facility
Invasive Species Project Awardfinalists:
  • CEMEX, Camp Verde Quarry
  • Winner! Toyota, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas
Landscaping Project Awardfinalists:
  • Winner! CEMEX, Ready Mix USA
  • General Motors, Fairfax Assembly and Stamping Plant
  • Waste Management, Austin Community Landfill
Mammals Project Awardfinalists:
  • CEMEX, El Carmen Nature Reserve
  • Exelon, R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Station
  • Winner! MEG Energy, Christina Lake Regional Project
Other Habitats Project Award, finalists:
  • Bayer, Soda Springs – Fox Hills Ranch Sage Grouse Habitat
  • Winner! Vulcan Materials, Cajon Creek Habitat Conservation Area – Riversidian Alluvial Fan Sage Scrub Habitat

Pollinator Project Awardfinalists:

  • Winner! Albemarle, Kings Mountain Pollinator Habitat
  • DTE Energy, Traverse City Gas Operations
  • Fidelity Investments, Smithfield, Rhode Island
Reptiles and Amphibians Project Awardfinalists:
  • Georgia-Pacific, Monticello
  • Vulcan Materials, Pilarcitos Quarry
  • Winner! Waste Management, West Carleton Environmental Centre
Rocky Areas Project Awardfinalist:
  • Winner! Exelon, R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Station
Species of Concern Project Awardfinalist:
  • Winner! Waste Management, Kirby Canyon Recycling and Disposal Facility
Wetlands and Water Bodies Project Awardfinalists:
  • AstraZeneca, Waltham
  • Exelon, Newtown Square Substation Stewardship Project
  • Winner! Exelon, Gwynedd Stream Rehabilitation and Protection Project

Award finalists and winners were chosen from Conservation Certification applications submitted from July 15, 2019 – December 31, 2019. (Applications received January 1, 2020 – December 15, 2020 will be considered for the 2021 WHC Awards. Applications under appeal are not considered.)

The winners were awarded at WHC Connect, our virtual event held on October 6 + 7. 

Corporate Conservation Leadership Award
Our top award honors one company’s overall achievement in conservation efforts, and signifies an exemplary level of corporate commitment to biodiversity and conservation education, and meaningful alignments with global conservation objectives.

Employee Engagement Award

Presented to one organization, this award recognizes a company’s involvement in conservation through the sheer force of its employee teams who participate in its habitat and conservation education activities.

Gold Program Award

This award recognized the overall depth of one exceptional program in the Gold Certified tier.

Avian Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest-scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate monitoring of targeted species and at least 1 associated factor (e.g. food sources), and the project must be adaptively managed.

Awareness and Community Engagement Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project meets a need identified by an external group, company or community group based on study or other information, and must clearly relate to a habitat or species project on-site (or support some other conservation project).

Bats Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate monitoring of targeted species and at least 1 associated factor (e.g. food sources), and includes evaluation of monitoring results to develop next steps for the project.

Caves and Subterranean Habitats Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project must have appropriate adaptive management practices, adequate monitoring, and includes evaluation of monitoring results to develop next steps for the project.

Desert Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project must have appropriate adaptive management practices, annual monitoring, and includes evaluation of monitoring results to develop next steps for the project.

Forest Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project must be adaptively managed using appropriate techniques, and monitored adequately at least once per year with results evaluated to create next steps.

Formal Learning Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project must be mapable to academic standards, meet a need identified by the community, and clearly relate to a habitat or species project on site (or support some other conservation project).

Grasslands Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate monitoring of vegetation at least two times a year or adequate monitoring of vegetation at least annually, demonstrates adequate monitoring of at least 1 additional aspect (e.g. wildlife use), and uses the evaluation to create next steps for the project.

Green Infrastructure Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates that there are multiple features of the project that directly impact biodiversity, and the information about the biodiversity impacts are shared.

Invasive Species Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate annual monitoring, and the control and prevention methods should incorporate appropriate practices. 

Landscaping Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project has an adequate monitoring protocol, and the results of the evaluation are used to create next steps for the project.

Mammals Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate monitoring of the targeted species, and the monitoring results are used to create next steps for the project.

Marine Intertidal Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project must be adaptively managed using appropriate techniques, and monitored adequately at least once per year with results evaluated to create next steps.

Other Habitats Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project is adaptively managed using appropriate techniques and monitored adequately with results evaluated to create the next steps for the project.

Other Species Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest-scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate monitoring of targeted species and at least 1 associated factor (e.g. food sources), and the project must be adaptively managed.

Pollinator Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate monitoring of targeted species at least once per year and at least 1 associated factor (e.g.  food sources), and should have a policy integrated into overall site operations to minimize, eliminate or apply responsible use practices of pesticides and herbicides with supporting documentation.

Remediation Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates that outcomes have some direct ecological benefit, and the information about the biodiversity impacts are shared.

Reptiles and Amphibians Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate monitoring of the targeted species and at least 1 associated factor (such as food sources), and uses the results of monitoring data to create next steps in the project.

Species of Concern Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project must include a commitment to long-term or permanent protection, and the data collected about the target species during monitoring is shared with external organizations.

Training Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project must meet a need identified by an external group, company or community group based on study or other information, and the project must clearly relate to a habitat or species project on-site ( or support some other conservation project).

Wetlands Project Award
Awarded to one of the highest scoring projects in this theme, the project demonstrates adequate monitoring and use of monitoring data to create next steps in the project.

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