ArcelorMittal biodiversity manager, Wing-Yunn Crawley, has been named a finalist in the 2016 “100 Inspirational Women in Mining” list by Women in Mining UK, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting and progressing the development of women in the mining and minerals sector.
In its January 2017 issue, Mining Global Magazine whittled that list down further to a top-ten “most inspiring of them all”, selecting Wing among them.
ArcelorMittal attributes some of Wing’s success in being nominated to her passion for balancing the relationship between mining and the environment, building up strong links with local communities, NGOs and government agencies.
Explaining her reason for choosing to apply her skills and passion for nature from within a mining company, rather than working for conservationists, Wing said, “this job is an opportunity to make a difference from the inside and influence decisions, to really push at an internal level to ensure the company mines responsibly.”
According to Arcelor Mittal, Wing’s extensive experience in expeditions and long-term surveys in remote parts of the Philippines and Sierra Leone and reputation for delivering standout work under budget and ahead of schedule, have marked her out as a remarkable talent.
At ArcelorMittal Liberia, she set up a biodiversity offset programme from scratch to compensate for the impact caused by mining in mountainous tropical rainforest. She and her team have had many Liberian firsts, from piloting conservation agreements to radio tracking endangered species, supporting the co-management of protected areas, and developing different agricultural systems to alleviate pressure on forests.
Four years into her stewardship, the programme has become a global group showpiece and she has become a familiar face on international conference circuit.
She’s even had a newly-discovered butterfly named after her – a rare honour in the scientific world. The butterfly -- Wing’s Epitola, Cephetola wingae -- bears Wing’s name in recognition of her significant contribution to ArcelorMittal Liberia’s biodiversity programme.
Szabolcs Sáfián, who discovered the butterfly, said, “The species is named after Wing-Yunn Crawley, biodiversity programme coordinator for ArcelorMittal Liberia. Wing is among the most enthusiastic conservationists I have ever worked with.
“Without her commitment, the East Nimba Nature Reserve and the Liberian Nimbas would not have received their well-deserved attention and care from conservation organisations and researchers”.
