(November 13, 2014) DETROIT — General Motors has received 15 certifications and three awards from the nonprofit Wildlife Habitat Council for establishing wildlife habitats and education programs at facilities in five countries, including the first certified program in China by any company.

The Wildlife Habitat Council’s Wildlife at Work and Corporate Lands for Learning programs recognize outstanding wildlife habitat management and environmental education efforts at corporate sites.

“GM truly understands the importance of establishing strategic corporate goals and objectives with the Wildlife Habitat Council and working to translate them into tangible and measurable on-the-ground actions,” said Margaret O’Gorman, president of the Wildlife Habitat Council.

GM maintains an industry-leading 43 certified programs and actively manages nearly 5,000 acres of wildlife habitat globally, representing 22 percent of the certified sites’ overall footprint.

GM’s Guangde Proving Ground wildlife habitat includes a 27,000-square-foot pollinator garden and wetland

Features of some of the newly certified programs include:

    • A 27,000-square-foot pollinator garden at the Guangde Proving Ground in China. Pollinators — rapidly declining worldwide — are critical to the reproduction of 90 percent of flowering plants and one third of human food crops worldwide.

    • A three-acre artificial lagoon providing a natural wetland habitat for migrating and local birds at GM’s Ramos Arizpe Complex in Mexico. The lagoon is particularly important in the water-stressed region of northern Mexico.

    • Wetlands and containment lakes used for organic wastewater treatment at the company’s facilities in Joinville and São Caetano do Sul, Brazil. Employees showed students how sustainable manufacturing practices help preserve local watersheds and the flora and fauna that rely on them.

    • Bat nesting boxes made from scrap Chevrolet Volt battery covers at Tonawanda Engine and several other GM facilities in the U.S. and Canada. The structures are designed to help preserve bat populations under threat due to white nose syndrome.

Certification requires sites to apply for periodic renewal. Nine GM facilities earned recertification this year, having shown continuous growth of their habitats and environmental education programs.

Sandhill cranes roam the habitat at GM’s Lansing Delta Township site

“Enhancing biodiversity is a business priority and environmental imperative,” said Greg Martin, GM executive director for Sustainability. “These habitats also enable our employees to have a tangible, positive impact on local conservation while strengthening relationships in the communities where they live and work.”

The Wildlife Habitat Council also recognized two individual plants with additional awards for programs that demonstrate exceptional commitment to conservation.

    • Lansing Delta Township earned Corporate Habitat of the Year, which recognizes one high-quality Wildlife at Work program each year for outstanding environmental stewardship. The plant also received the Wings Over Wetlands award in recognition of protecting wetland habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds.

    • Arlington Assembly was named Corporate Lands for Learning Rookie of the Year, which recognizes a single, newly certified Corporate Lands for Learning program each year for outstanding environmental education, stewardship and voluntary employee efforts.

GM is committed to creating and securing wildlife habitat certifications or equivalent at each of its manufacturing sites where feasible by 2020.