Environmental Assessment
Volume C-4.2
Slurry Pipeline
Fauna
Ambatovy Project
95
January 2006
Key Question W-3
What Effect Will the Project Have on Faunal
Health?
The slurry pipeline will be about 195 km in length from the mine slurry plant to
the plant site at Toamasina. The route will still be adjusted slightly to further
avoid sensitive places like steep slopes and valuable forest fragments.
The pipeline corridor width will vary from 25 to 100 m depending on slope but
the average assumed width for this assessment is 50 m. The pipeline will be
buried, except near the mine slurry plant and the plant site at Toamasina and at
several watercourse crossings where the pipe will be suspended across deep
channels. A maintenance road will be constructed along most of the proposed
pipeline route, but not through environmentally sensitive areas.
Other ancillary physical disturbances include construction of side access roads to
the proposed pipeline route, worker camps and laydown areas. The location of
these features has not yet been finalized. The camp and laydown areas will be
progressively reclaimed during and after construction.
Project activities could affect fauna through habitat loss and alteration, direct and
indirect mortality and changes in access and use. Direct habitat loss can result
from site clearing. Indirect habitat loss can result from sensory disturbance and
air emissions such as dust fall. Direct and indirect mortality may result from
habitat clearing from construction or operations, removal of nuisance fauna and
interaction of fauna with infrastructure. Changes in access and use may lead to
increased hunting and collecting and potential for increased vehicle-fauna
collisions. Fragmentation and barriers to movement can affect faunal movement
and dispersal. These effects are primarily a result of construction and operation
activities. Positive effects to fauna and faunal habitat are expected to result from
reclamation.
Impacts to fauna could occur during construction and operations as shown in the
linkage diagram (Volume H, Appendix 9).
For each effect associated with the project, an impact pathway analysis is
provided for each issue, followed by a mitigation section, impact analysis,
residual impact classification and monitoring. Where issues were related
(e.g. edge effects), they were analyzed and discussed together to avoid repetition.
