Environmental Assessment
Volume E-5.2
Tailings Facility
Cultural Property
Ambatovy Project
202
January 2006
Cultural resources are non-renewable resources that may be located at or near
ground level, or may be buried. Primary impacts to these comprise disturbances
created by the construction of the development project, where the landscape and
its contents are disturbed.
Secondary impacts are indirect impacts that occur after construction and
reclamation is complete. Erosion of sloping terrain due to alterations in the
vegetation, for example, may affect sites. Secondary impacts are of particular
concern in situations where cultural resources lie adjacent to development zones.
Tertiary impacts are the results of project-induced changes in demography and
land-use patterns. Increased rates of intentional and unintentional impacts can be
expected as a result of increased visitation to the region if the project is large
enough to affect regional population bases. For this project, tertiary impacts may
be possible from non-local workers unfamiliar with local customs.
The key questions for cultural resources are:
Key Question AR-1
What Effect Will the Project Have on
Archaeological Sites?
Key Question SE-8
Will the Project Lead to Cultural or Social
Conflicts Between Local Residents and
Outsiders?
Key Question SE-10 What Effect Will Resettlement From the Project
Within the Area of Direct Impact Have on
Inhabitants?
5.2.5
Impact Assessment
5.2.5.1 Assessment Methods
Assessment methods consisted of identifying which cultural resources discovered
during the fieldwork phase would be directly impacted by construction activities.
Secondary impacts relating to hydrologic or soil erosion effects outside of the
project footprint were evaluated based on impacts predicted in the hydrology and
soils EA sections (Volume E, Sections 3.8 and 3.3).
Cultural resources may suffer tertiary impacts (through increased visitation to the
area by non-local residents following construction of the project). These impacts
