Compagnie des Alpes // 2021 Universal Registration Document
4 STATEMENT OF NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE Environmental challenges
4.3.3.3 Controlling pollution and emissions (soil, air and landscape) Soil and air pollution Most soil contamination is caused by leaks following the accidental rupture of a hydraulic cable on a grooming machine. This type of leak is very localised. Ski areas carry out preventive maintenance and preventive changes on these cables, They work in collaboration with suppliers to ensure reliability and have an emergency procedure in place to treat polluted snow and clean up soil in the summer. In 2020 and 2021, the Group had to manage the decontamination of contaminated soil, discovered as part of a land survey and whose origin is attributed to a tank buried in an urban area of one of the stations. After decontamination, the site is under surveillance in 2022. Some of our Ski areas have generalized the use of GTL, a synthetic technology that significantly reduces atmospheric pollution (NO x and particulates) compared to Diesel/Non-road diesel. This represents around 19% of diesel consumption in 2021. In addition, the sites manage their use of chemical products to limit their environmental impact and lower or eliminate the use of the most dangerous products. Monitoring the environmental compliance of the sites makes it possible to control the practices in place (rules for the storage of chemical and flammable products, generalisation of retention basins, specific bins, risk analysis, etc.), and thus reduce the risk of pollution. Visual and light pollution Group sites are placing increasing importance on lighting and their impact on the landscape. In practice, this has led to many initiatives, including: l pursuit of the policy to gradually reduce the number of ski lifts, and therefore pylons, cables, stations and overhead power lines; l the work is monitored as part of the environmental observatory at each Ski Area with the aim of better integrating the new developments into the landscape. This monitoring concerns more than 300 points in total. Taking photographs as the work progresses allows us to take a step back and assess the effectiveness of the measures put in place. This involves growing vegetation on the roofs or in the work areas, burying equipment (garage for the new Legends TSD buried), grids and storage areas, the use of untreated materials (stone or wood) when renovating lodging in the ski area, etc.; l turning off the lighting strips at night and all lighting at Futuroscope and Bellewaerde after closing. Noise nuisance Noise nuisance is dealt with in point 4.4.2.4 “Involvement with local communities”.
Enhancing natural spaces and biodiversity The Ski areas offer leisure opportunities but also safe access to places and landscapes of outstanding natural beauty. To protect these spaces, the Group’s sites must play their part in enhancing them and raising awareness of their fragility and the need to preserve them by reconnecting visitors with nature. Below are two examples of projects: l the Altitude Expérience project overseen by the subsidiary STGM, which operates the Tignes ski area, is a perfect example of this. The concept is to attract as many people as possible to the Grande Motte glacier and offer fun ways for them to discover this beautiful and unique national treasure, not only through access to magnificent viewpoints but by providing facts and information about this splendid, but ever so fragile, site. This public-private initiative, devised in close collaboration with the Parc National de la Vanoise, aims to include an environmental dimension in the tourism product to educate as many people as possible; l the new Aiguille Rouge footbridge at Les Arcs is helping our visitors understand the mountains. Looking out onto a magnificent landscape, visitors can read the information boards installed in conjunction with the Hauts de Villaroger nature reserve or meet the bearded vulture en route to the new station. Visitors to Peisey- Vallandry will also be able to discover the history and heritage of the area in the new relaxation area and more than 30 species of local fauna and flora at the Mountain Animals Museum developed in partnership with the Parc National de la Vanoise; l the Ski areas raise their customers’ awareness of biodiversity protection in the following ways: l Les Menuires: friendly Natural Park trail that allows visitors to discover the wealth of local fauna and meet some of the many animals that inhabit the La Vanoise National Park, l the Grand Massif: a fun trail for children to discover fauna, as well as a geological trail, and organises a summer-winter raiding to discover the fauna, l at Serre Chevalier: the biodiversity issue is mentioned during the visit to the traders at the Ski Area, l the sharing of naturalistic data that we collect through our environmental observatories: publishing on social networks, sharing to feed into the Municipal Biodiversity Atlas (Belleville), annual public reports of its observatory (Grand Massif). On a lesser scale, some Leisure parks also raise visitor awareness with biodiversity teaching material: l at Parc Astérix, hotel guests will be able to discover local flora and fauna on the new “discovery trail” over a 4 km circuit. The site includes, for example, the Morrière forest, which is home to protected plant species such as the marsh Saint John’s wort; l in addition to the educational panels on animals and their natural habitat available in Bellewaerde Park, a behind-the-scenes visit to the animals enables students to learn about biodiversity issues.
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Compagnie des Alpes I 2021 Universal registration document
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