Environmental Assessment
Volume B-5.3
Mine
Land Use
Ambatovy Project
361
January 2006
Table 5.3-1 Land Use Impact Areas for the Mine Local Study Area
Type of Area
Area Within
LSA (Baseline)
(ha)
Area
Impacted
(ha)
Proportion of Area
in LSA Impacted
(%)
degraded residual coastal woodland
0
0
0
azonal/transitional forest and scrub
2,833
1,303
46
primary zonal forest and marsh edge
4,998
308
6
degraded primary zonal forest
6,866
59
1
agroforest/secondary forest
0
0
0
plantation
0
0
0
woodlot
1,491
5
<1
beach ridge complex
0
0
0
coastal shrubland/grassland complex
0
0
0
rice paddies
283
3
1
shrubland/herbaceous/pasture
2,794
85
3
tavy matrix
2,583
19
<1
village/urban
27
0.3
1
wetlands
1,114
12
1
access corridor (road/rail)
0
0
0
industry (buildings or exploration areas)
3
3
100
canal
0
0
0
quarry
0
0
0
river/water
10
0
0
seasonal pond
4
4
89
totals
(b)
23,006
(a)
1,798
8
(a)
Varies slightly from terrestrial biology EA due to larger extent of area along intake pipeline corridor
(b)
May not add up as written due to rounding.
Of the areas to be impacted by the mine, many are already disturbed under
baseline conditions. Exploration activities, both recent and historical, have
resulted in the cleaning of 33 ha of azonal / transitional forest and scrub.
Eleven percent (1,670 ha) of forested areas (zonal, azonal and degraded) in the
LSA are affected by the project. Based on forest research conducted during the
exploration campaign, it was estimated that about 74 cubic metres of timber
(using trees of a diameter of 10 cm or greater) can be taken from each hectare
cut. Therefore, a total of 123,580 cubic metres are expected to be cut during
clearing activity for the project. The market value of the trees cut vary
depending on the species. Some of the most valuable species have been removed
from the area, at least in part, by past forest extraction activity.
