_206 2023 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT_MICHELIN 4 NON-FINANCIAL STATEMENT Sustainable Development Report Systematically identifying nearby protected areas Every five years since 2013, the Group’s production plants and research facilities have conducted surveys to identify areas classified as protected under supranational, national or local legislation and located within a five-kilometer radius of their site. In 2023, the five-year update inventoried 240 nearby protected areas. When the updated data was analyzed with regard to the GRI 101-5-b-i indicator, it showed that 28 facilities in seven countries, representing a total surface area of 6,100 hectares, are located less than a kilometer from one or more protected areas. In addition to the facilities covered by prior-year inventories, almost half of the former Camso facilities(1) performed inventories in 2023 and are included in the above results. The findings of these inventories are integrated into each facility’s environmental risk analysis, as well as in the biodiversity management plans mentioned above. A network of Biodiversity Champion Sites A network of Biodiversity Champion Sites was set up in 2022, with seven facilities volunteering for initial participation. Another seven sites joined in 2023, when the network met five times to share best practices, discuss difficulties and prepare a handbook for implementing a biodiversity program, based on their experience. These facilities are leading the way in fulfilling the Group’s act4nature objectives for the implementation of management plans and the switchover to pesticide and herbicide-free groundskeeping. Raising employee awareness In the same way as the Climate Fresk(2), the Biodiversity Collage has been chosen as the preferred tool for giving employees greater insight and a shared language with regard to the causes and consequences of the collapse of biodiversity. In 2023, a network of 25 facilitators were trained and organized and 27 Collage workshops involving 212 people were conducted. Ladoux, France: a high biodiversity potential facility in action. CENA – In 2023, the agreement between the Michelin facility and the Auvergne Regional Nature Conservancy was renewed for at least another five years. It ensures the protection of a 5.2-hectare area containing continental salt meadows, which are extremely rare in Europe and have been designated as a priority for conservation. They are home to protected maritime species in the Auvergne region, such as sea plantain and Juncus Gerardii black grass. NATURA'LADOUX – The Natura’Ladoux association has been leading local preservation programs and organizing activities to raise employee awareness since 2016. In 2023, it helped to deploy the biodiversity management plan at Ladoux by leading three teambuilding exercises that involved planting 180 shrubs in hedges to help protect water and soil resources, preserve biodiversity and improve the quality of life. Cropland – In 2020, for the first time, the cropland used as testing grounds for agricultural tires was rehabilitated using only farm machinery, without any pesticides. In 2023, no insecticides were used in the wheat and barley fields. Buckwheat, whose extensive plant cover smothers weeds, was grown without using any pesticides or herbicides. The possibility of planting other pesticide-free crops, such as lavender, hemp and alfalfa, are now being reviewed. Rif – A project to restore the Rif canal was undertaken in 2021 to revitalize around one hundred meters of the waterway and limit bank erosion with a variety of vegetation engineering techniques (combs, aquatic plant weirs, vegetated berms). A new permit application was submitted to the Loire-Bretagne Water Agency in 2023. (1) Camso facilities will be fully integrated into the Group’s environmental reporting system in 2024 (see the Scope of the Report section above). (2) See section 4.1 Sustainable Development Report/Transforming the Group from within.
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