Environmental Assessment
Volume C-4.2
Slurry Pipeline
Fauna
Ambatovy Project
111
January 2006
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Any species removed prior to and during clearing or operations
(i.e., nuisance animals) will be recorded.
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Driving behaviour will be monitored both for safety and fauna
protection concerns. Game trails intersecting access routes will be
noted to identify areas for signage.
Conclusions
Direct habitat loss and direct mortality due to site clearing during construction are
predicted to be the greatest impacts on fauna. Mitigation will reduce the potential
impacts to a low environmental consequence for all habitats. Through route
adjustments, most impacts from the slurry pipeline occur in previously disturbed
habitats. Of the 936 ha that will be disturbed, less than 5% will occur in primary,
undisturbed habitats. As species richness was highest in primary habitats (Volume J,
Appendix 2.1), the siting of the pipeline has greatly reduced potential impacts to
fauna. In addition, impacts to species in the primary habitats will be mitigated as
much as possible by the capture and translocation of selected species before pipeline
construction. Species that were only recorded in transitional habitats are most at risk
from project development (Volume J, Appendix 2.1) as these habitats cannot be
restored.
Reclamation will be a key mitigation of impacts to fauna due to site clearing,
including indirect effects. In the Torotorofotsy Wetlands area, roads will be
decommissioned and reclaimed unless they are requested to remain by the regional
authorities. In the Mantadia-Zahamena Conservation Corridor, the proposed pipeline
route will be rapidly and progressively reclaimed following construction and no
maintenance road will be built through this area. Reforestation of this corridor will
enhance these habitats relative to baseline conditions.
4.2.4.3 Key Question W-2 What Effect Will the Project Have on the
Movement of Faunal Species?
Potential Effect Pathways
Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation is another direct effect that occurs as a result of site
clearing. Fragmentation occurs when extensive, continuous tracts of habitat are
dissected into smaller, more isolated patches (Meffe and Carroll 1994). For most
faunal species, small, dispersed habitat patches are considered to be lower quality
than larger, continuous tracts.
