Faculty of Biology: Optimal measure to prevent negative impact is to abandon Jadar project

The Faculty of Biology at the University of Belgrade has issued a statement regarding Rio Tinto’s three drafts of environmental impact assessment studies for the Jadar lithium mining and processing project. The studies are carried out by the company’s subsidiary, Rio Sava Exploration, registered in Belgrade. The documents were released in mid-June.

Dean Ljubiša Stanisavljević and the research team of 15 experts signed the Serbian Faculty of Biology’s statement on the Jadar project. The faculty was hired by a firm called SGS Beograd to work on the impact report on biodiversity and measures to reduce and mitigate it.

Rio Tinto has published the EIA draft studies on the proposed industrial waste landfill, underground mine and a processing plant outside the mine.

The faculty said it reacted to erroneous, unfounded, tendentious statements from state-owned and private legal entities and individuals

The faculty emphasized that it wanted to clarify its view, reacting to “a significant number of erroneous, unfounded, contradictory, and tendentious statements from state-owned and private legal entities, as well as individuals, with regard to the results of researching the state of biodiversity and the development of measures to reduce and mitigate the impact of activities in the area of ​​the planned mine.”

According to the update, an additional motive came from the inadequate and incorrect presentation of key data, risk factors, proposals for protection measures, and general conclusions presented in the ‘Final report on the review of the impact of the Jadar project on the exploitation and processing of the jadarite mineral, on the state of biodiversity and the development of measures to reduce and mitigate the consequences’.

The faculty and the expert team were involved in the creation of the final report.

The entire announcement in Serbian can be accessed here while Balkan Green Energy News brings the most interesting parts below.

The final report of the Faculty of Biology is labelled as a business secret

In cooperation with four renowned higher education and scientific institutions in Serbia, the Faculty of Biology conducted a one-time field survey in the wider area of ​​the planned jadarite mine. Based on the research results, they produced a final report in Serbian and English.

The document was labelled a business secret at the request of Rio Sava Exploration. However, the most important data on the state of biodiversity in the researched area and possible consequences if the project is implemented were presented during the conference ‘Project Jadar—What is Known?’, held on May 6 and 7, 2021, and organized by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU).

The optimal measure to prevent negative impact is to abandon the project

The main conclusions derived from the analysis of the scientific results presented in the final report were published in the paper ‘Project Jadar – What is Known?’ issued after the event. Here are the most important conclusions.

The degree and scope of the mine’s impact on biodiversity in the area are extremely significant and crucially affect its degradation. The report has identified irreversible and reversible impacts.

The proposed and realistically possible mitigation and remediation measures are extremely limited in capacity and insufficiently defined in time.

Due to the expected irreversible changes in ecosystems and the risk of endangering the Jadar, Drina, and other rivers, the optimal and basic measure to prevent a negative impact on the biodiversity in the area is to abandon the planned exploitation and processing of jadarite minerals.

The study and report were reviewed by Cambridge-based consultants

The faculty noted that The Biodiversity Consultancy from Cambridge reviewed all the studies and reports on biodiversity, including the final report. The responsibility for the accuracy of the data and the presented proposals and views lies with the firm and the signatories of the drafts and not with the faculty and expert teams.

The general conclusion in the final report was based on strict scientific procedures, according to the faculty. It could be refuted and questioned only by implementing the same methodological procedures, the update adds.

The faculty disclaims any responsibility for conclusions published in the drafts that don’t match with the final report.

The conclusions in the drafts don’t represent the optimal solution for the protection of biodiversity

The faculty stressed that Serbia’s constitution stipulates the protection of the environment and natural resources (land, water, and air).

“Everyone shall have the right to a healthy environment and the right to timely and full information about the state of the environment. Everyone, especially the Republic of Serbia and autonomous provinces, shall be accountable for protecting the environment. Everyone shall be obliged to preserve and improve the environment,” the constitution says.

According to the Faculty of Biology and its research team, the conclusions in the drafts on the current and future state of biodiversity and potential impacts of the Jadar mine’s planned operations on natural resources and the environment in the researched area don’t offer optimal solutions for protecting biodiversity.