Environmental Assessment
Volume B-4.4
Mine
Natural Habitats and Biodiversity
Ambatovy Project
298
January 2006
4.4.5
Conclusions
Change in area, composition and spatial configuration of habitats were used to
assess the direct impacts from the project on natural habitats and biodiversity.
Following mitigation, analysis indicated that there should be no residual impacts
to the Torotorofotsy Wetlands complex, and negligible effects to species
inhabiting the zonal forest ecotype. The greatest impacts will result from
disturbance to azonal habitats, transitional forest and ephemeral pools. Residual
impacts during construction and operation are predicted to be of high magnitude,
regional in geographic extent, and continue over the long-term. During closure,
ongoing reclamation and protection of conservation areas are anticipated to
reverse residual impacts (except for the loss of azonal habitat and associated
ephemeral pools) to moderate magnitude. The extent of the effects will be
regional and medium-term in duration. Overall, the environmental consequence
of the project on natural habitats and biodiversity is predicted to be high during
construction and operation, and moderate during closure.
The project will negatively impact natural habitats and associated biodiversity
within the study area. However, the severity of the impact on the ecosystem is
uncertain. The establishment of on-site azonal conservation areas and habitat
reclamation will assist in mitigating the impacts. In addition, because of the
unavoidable high residual impacts in the LSA, off-site compensation activities
involving both azonal and zonal (buffer zone) habitats will take place as
biodiversity off-sets. An analysis of combined project impacts on biodiversity,
including positive effects of offsets, is provided in Volume G, Section 3.4. From
a cumulative perspective, buffer zone forest management and other biodiversity
offsets allow the project to work towards a net positive impact on biodiversity
during operations and closure.
The monitoring program used to monitor flora and fauna will test the
effectiveness of biodiversity mitigation, and detect unanticipated effects. The
results of the monitoring will be used to determine whether changes may be
needed to the applied mitigation.
