Lydenburg-Merensky 132Kv Power Lines Project - Avifaunal Impact Assessment Study

Lydenburg-Merensky 132kV Power Lines Project - Avifaunal Impact Assessment Study Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd November 2015 Revision 3 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Client : Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd Project Name : Lydenburg – Merensky 132kV Power lines Project -Avifaunal Impact Assessment Study Royal HaskoningDHV Reference Number : T01.JNB.000507 Compiled by : Paul da Cruz Date : November 2015 Location : Woodmead Review and Approval: Bronwen Griffiths (PrSciNat – Environmental Science – 400169/11) ____________________________ Signature © Royal HaskoningDHV All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission from Royal HaskoningDHV TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS 0 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 0 ACRONYMS 1 SPECIALIST DECLARATION 1 1 INTRODUCTION 3 1.1 AIMS OF THE STUDY 3 1.2 ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS 3 1.3 PROJECT TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION 4 1.3.1 SITE LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION 4 2 STUDY SITE CHARACTERISATION 5 2.1 STUDY AREA CLIMATE , TOPOGRAPHY AND VEGETATION 5 2.1.1 CLIMATE 5 2.1.2 GEOLOGY, MACRO-GEOMORPHOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY 5 2.1.3 VEGETATION TYPES 6 2.1.4 CURRENT LAND COVER AND LAND USE 6 3 HABITATS FOR BIRDS IN THE STUDY AREA 7 3.1 HABITAT TYPES 7 3.1.1 SAVANNAH AND WOODLAND (BUSHVELD) 7 3.1.2 GRASSLANDS 9 3.1.3 RIVERS AND WETLANDS 11 3.1.4 RIPARIAN FOREST AND THICKET 12 3.1.5 CLIFFS AND MONTANE HABITAT 13 3.1.6 CULTIVATED LAND AND ORCHARDS 14 3.1.7 HUMAN INFRASTRUCTURE 15 3.2 IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS 16 3.2.1 IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT 18 4 BIRD SPECIES OCCURRENCE IN THE STUDY AREA 18 4.1 OVERALL SPECIES OCCURRENCE 18 4.2 OCCURRENCE OF RED DATA SPECIES 19 4.3 OCCURRENCE OF ENDEMIC SPECIES 19 4.4 OCCURRENCE OF PRIORITY BIRD SPECIES 21 5 IMPACT ASSESSMENT 22 5.1 GENERIC IMPACTS ASSOCIATED WITH POWER LINES 22 5.1.1 COLLISIONS 23 5.1.2 ELECTROCUTIONS 23 5.1.3 DISTURBANCE 23 5.1.4 HABITAT DESTRUCTION 24 5.2 PRIORITY SPECIES -SPECIFIC IMPACTS 24 5.2.1 BLACK STORK 24 5.2.2 SOUTHERN BALD IBIS 25 5.2.3 CAPE VULTURE 26 5.2.4 VERREAUXS’ EAGLE 29 5.2.5 AFRICAN CROWNED EAGLE 30 5.2.6 LANNER AND PEREGRINE FALCONS 30 5.2.7 OTHER RAPTOR SPECIES 31 5.2.8 DENHAM’S BUSTARD 33 5.2.9 WHITE-BELLIED KORHAAN 33 5.2.10 BLACK-BELLIED BUSTARD 34 5.3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDY AREA HABITATS AND PRIORITY SPECIES OCCURRENCE IN THE STUDY AREA 36 6 COMPARATIVE ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT 40 7 MITIGATION MEASURES 42 7.1 POWER LINE ROUTING 42 7.2 MARKING OF LINES 42 7.3 TOWER -TYPE 43 7.4 PRE -CONSTRUCTION ‘WALK -DOWN ’ 43 7.5 AWARENESS OF BREEDING , AND DISTURBANCE OF PRIORITY SPECIES 43 8 IMPACT RATING MATRIX 43 9 CONCLUSIONS 46 10 REFERENCES 46 10.1 WEB PAGES REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT : 48 List of Tables TABLE 1 - RED DATA SPECIES LISTING FOR STUDY AREA 19 TABLE 2 – ENDEMIC BIRD SPECIES OCCURRING IN THE STUDY AREA 20 TABLE 3 – COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF LINE ALTERNATIVES 40 List of Figures FIGURE 1 – STUDY AREA 4 FIGURE 2 – WOODLAND HABITAT IN THE STUDY AREA 8 FIGURE 3 – HYPARRHENIA HIRTA -DOMINATED GRASSLANDS ALONG ALTERNATIVE 3 ON THE FARM BOOMPLAATS CLOSE TO THE LYDENBURG SUBSTATION 9 FIGURE 4 – TALL OPEN , PARTIALLY WOODED GRASSLAND ALONG ALTERNATIVE 2 10 FIGURE 5 – THE CHANNEL AND ASSOCIATED RIPARIAN ZONE OF THE WATERVALS RIVER 12 FIGURE 6 – RIPARIAN HABITAT IN THE THABA THOLO WILDERNESS RESERVE 13 FIGURE 7 – CLIFFS ON THE WESTERN SLOPES OF THE WATERVALS RIVER VALLEY CLOSE TO THE ALTERNATIVE 2 ALIGNMENT FIGURE 8 – IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS IN RELATION TO THE STUDY AREA 17 FIGURE 9 – CAPE VULTURE IN FLIGHT RECORDED TO THE EAST OF THE SPEKBOOM RIVER VALLEY FIGURE 10 – CLIFFS TO THE WEST OF BUFFELSVLEY FARM USED AS ROOSTING SITES BY CAPE VULTURES FIGURE 11 – LARGE NUMBERS OF AMUR FALCONS PERCHING ON THE EARTHING WIRE OF A POWER LINE IN THE NORTH WEST PROVINCE 32 FIGURE 12 – MALE BLACK -BELLIED BUSTARD RECORDED IN TALL GRASSLAND ON THE KUDU RANCH NATURE RESERVE PROPERTY 35 FIGURE 13 – AVIFAUNAL SENSITIVE HABITATS – NORTHERN PART OF THE STUDY AREA 37 FIGURE 14 - AVIFAUNAL SENSITIVE HABITATS – SOUTHERN PART OF THE STUDY AREA 38 FIGURE 15 – AVIFAUNAL “H OTSPOTS ” IN THE STUDY AREA 39 Appendices APPENDIX 1: STUDY AREA BIRD SPECIES LIST APPENDIX 2: SABAP2 DATA FOR THE STUDY AREA SUBMITTED BY THE AUTHOR APPENDIX 3: MAPS Glossary of Terms Afromontane Forest Temperate Forest found on the eastern seaboard of South Africa, typically along the eastern escarpment on eastern / southern facing slopes and in areas protected from fire. These forests typically occur above an altitude of 900m, usually in areas receiving greater than 750mm rainfall per year. Accipter Family of raptors, including goshawks and sparrowhawks Avifauna The birds of a particular region, habitat, or geological period Earthing Wire Wire at the top of power line towers not connected to the conductors Ecotone A narrow and relatively sharply defined transition zone between two different communities. Ecotones are typically species rich. Endemic (Endemism) Species whose normal breeding and non-breeding ranges are entirely within a certain region – in this report endemism refers to southern Africa Facultative Occurring optionally in response to circumstances rather than by nature; applied to organisms that are able to adapt to different ways of living (in this case foraging). First Order Stream Refer to stream order below Frugivore A bird that primarily feeds on fruit Granivores Birds that feed on grains and seeds Herbaceous A plant having little or no woody tissue and persisting usually for a single growing season Intertropical An area where the Northern and Southern Hemispheric trade winds converge, usually Convergence Zone located between 10 degrees North and South of the equator. It is a broad area of low (ITCZ) pressure where both the Coriolis force and the low-level pressure gradient are weak, occasionally allowing tropical disturbances to form. It fluctuates in location, following the sun's rays, so that during the Southern Hemisphere summer, the ITCZ moves southward over southern Africa Intra African A migrant that visits southern Africa from other parts of Africa Marginal Plants and habitat on the edge of waterbodies Mesic Relating to an environment or habitat containing a moderate amount of moisture, as opposed to xeric (arid) or hydric environments Microphyllous Referring to plants and trees with small leaves, as opposed to broad-leafed plants. A microphyll is termed as a leaf 25-75mm long Migrant In a southern African avifaunal context, birds that typically visit the subcontinent, usually in the summer months, spending the southern hemisphere winter in other parts of Africa (Intra-African migrant) or the Palaearctic Mistbelt The Mistbelt refers to high altitudes associated with the escarpment (high altitude in the context of Mpumalanga) or eastern seaboard of South Africa (parts of KZN) with a temperate and damp climate; characterised by frequent mists in summer and frequent frosts in winter. They are naturally defined by a matrix of grassland and forest. Mistbelt forest represents a southern extension of the Afromontane forests of tropical Africa. Passerine Largest order of birds, which are characterised by feet adapted for perching (three toes forward-facing and 1 backward-facing) Palaearctic Zoogeographical region that incorporates Europe, northern Asia and northern Africa Piscivorous Fish-eating Rallid Of the family Rallidae (Rails, Crakes, Gallinules, Coots, Moorhens, etc.) Raptor A bird of prey, e.g., eagle, buzzards, falcons, etc. Red Data species Species whose continued existence is threatened. Red Data Book species are classified into different categories of perceived risk. Riparian Zones the physical structure and associated vegetation of the areas associated with a watercourse which are commonly characterised by alluvial soils, and which are inundated or flooded to an extent and with a frequency sufficient to support vegetation of species with a composition and physical structure distinct from those of adjacent land areas Scree slope (or = Talus) – A sloping mass of boulders and rock fragments accumulated at the foot of a cliff or slope Stream Order A morphometric classification of a drainage system according to a hierarchy or orders of the channel segments. Within a drainage network the un-branched channel segments which terminate at the stream head are termed as “first order streams” Sward Cover of grassy vegetation within a grassland Ultramafic Mafic Rocks consisting of > 90% mafic materials; “mafic” is a geological term referring to dark coloured minerals, commonly found in basic igneous rocks Understorey The part of the forest / woodland which grows at the lowest height level below the canopy Vulture Restaurant A specific location where fresh and poison-free meat and/or carcasses of domestic livestock or wild mammals are put out to feed vultures and other scavengers. Acronyms Amsl – Above mean sea level CAR – Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts Project EWT – Endangered Wildlife Trust IBA – Important Bird Area IUCN – International Union for the Conservation of Nature MAP – Mean Annual Precipitation SABAP1/2 – Southern African Bird Atlas Project 1 / 2 Specialist Declaration I, Paul da Cruz, declare that I – • act as a specialist consultant in the field of avifaunal assessment • do not have and will not have any financial interest in the undertaking of the activity, other than remuneration for work performed in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010; • have and will not have any vested interest in the proposed activity proceeding; • have no, and will not engage in, conflicting interests in the undertaking of the activity; • undertake to disclose, to the competent authority, any material information that have or may have the potential to influence the decision of the competent authority or the objectivity of any report, plan or document required in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010; and • will provide the competent authority with access to all information at my disposal regarding the application, whether such information is favourable to the applicant or not.

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