Environmental Assessment
Volume C-4.2
Slurry Pipeline
Fauna
Ambatovy Project
98
January 2006
Mitigation
Mitigations that will reduce the effects of habitat loss and alteration from site
clearing and changes in hydrology in the slurry pipeline LSA to wildlife include:
Design Elements
•
The pipeline route is mainly (approximately 95%) through previously
disturbed or degraded areas. It was routed to avoid primary zonal forest
fragments and wetlands of biological value, particularly the
Torotorofotsy Wetlands and Mantadia National Park.
•
Along the pipeline route between the two parcels of the Andasibe-
Mantadia National Park, the pipeline will be constructed to allow
overgrowth of trees and shrubs and improve forest cover and
connectivity during operations and post-closure.
Mitigation Techniques
•
Environmental monitors will work ahead of construction. For fauna, an
emphasis will be in the few areas where more natural vegetation will be
disturbed, including at some river crossings. In such areas, selected
listed (IUCN, CITES) faunal species will be relocated or collected prior
to site clearing where feasible.
•
Environmental monitors will also assess stream crossing locations
before construction and identify any location or reaches with high
sensitivities. Where feasible proposed crossings at identified sensitive
sites will be avoided. All crossings will be established with as narrow a
disturbance width as possible. Construction techniques will include
sediment and erosion control.
•
Sediment control, protection of water quality, and site-specific
mitigation, particularly at stream crossings.
Reclamation and Closure
•
The pipeline and other disturbed areas such as camps and laydown areas
will be progressively reclaimed during and after construction.
•
In sensitive areas, forest reclamation will occur and a maintenance road
will not be constructed. In particular, parts of the pipeline descending
from the mine towards the Torotorofotsy Wetlands, within the viewshed
of these wetlands, will be reforested. Areas of the pipeline within the
Mantadia-Zahamena Conservation Corridor directly between Mantadia
and Analamazaotra protected areas will be reforested, and no
maintenance road left. This high level of mitigation is part of the
project’s commitment to the regional corridor project.
•
The slurry pipeline will be abandoned in place (buried) at the time of
closure. Exposed sections will be removed and disposed of, unless a
