ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WOLSELEY WIND FARM, WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FAUNA & FLORA SPECIALIST STUDY PRODUCED FOR ARCUS GIBB ON BEHALF OF SAGIT ENERGY VENTURES BY SIMON TODD [email protected] NOVEMBER 2012 FINAL DRAFT FOR REVIEW DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE I, Simon Todd as duly authorised representative of Simon Todd Consulting, hereby confirm my independence as well as that of Simon Todd Consulting as the ecological specialist for the Langhoogte/Wolseley Wind Farm and declare that neither I nor Simon Todd Consulting have any interest, be it business, financial, personal or other, in any proposed activity, application or appeal in respect of which Arcus GIBB was appointed as environmental assessment practitioner in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998), other than fair remuneration for work performed in terms of the NEMA, the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010 and any specific environmental management Act) for the Langhoogte/Wolseley Wind Farm I further declare that I am confident in the results of the studies undertaken and conclusions drawn as a result of it. I have disclosed, to the environmental assessment practitioner, in writing, 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 NEMA, the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010 and any specific environmental management Act. I have further provided the environmental assessment practitioner with written access to all information at my disposal regarding the application, whether such information is favourable to the applicant or not. I am fully aware of and meet the responsibilities in terms of NEMA, the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010 and any other specific and relevant legislation (national and provincial), policies, guidelines and best practice. Signature: ______________________________ Full Name: Simon Wallace Todd Date: 05 November 2012 Title / Position: Sole Proprietor Qualification(s): MSc (Conservation Biology) Experience (years/ months): 15 years Registration(s): SACNASP (400425/11) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Arcus Gibb (Pty) Ltd. (GIBB) has been appointed by SAGIT Energy Ventures to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed Wolseley Wind Farm in the Western Cape. GIBB has in turn subcontracted Simon Todd Consulting to provide specialist ecological input for the above EIA. This specialist study provides an assessment of the likely ecological (terrestrial fauna and flora) impacts that are likely to be associated with the development of the site as a wind energy facility. The development would consist of up to 30 wind turbines distributed across the site which is located approximately 10 km south of Wolseley towards Worcester along the R43. The site was visited in July and September 2012 in order to characterise the site and assess the presence of sensitive species and habitats at the site. As this is highly favourable time of year for the vegetation, a lot of confidence can be placed in the results. Several highly threatened vegetation types occur at the site, particularly within the lowlands which have been highly impacted by transformation for intensive agriculture. As a result all remaining fragments of lowland vegetation at the site are considered highly sensitive and should not be impacted. There is however a large amount of transformed areas available at the site which would be suitable for development with little risk of generating significant ecological impact on flora and terrestrial fauna. The final sensitivity map generated for the site is depicted below. Four different impacts were identified as being likely to be associated with the construction and operation of the wind energy facility at the site. These are: Loss of endangered vegetation types and plant species; Negative impacts on fauna and their habitats; Indirect impacts to wetlands and hydrology as a result of erosion, Alien plant invasion with associated loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and Cumulative impacts to biodiversity and broad-scale ecological processes would occur as a result of the presence of a number of other facilities within the region. The above impacts were assessed for each of the development phases of the development and the results suggest that while some impacts are potentially high on account of the sensitive features present within the site, all impacts can be mitigated to an acceptably low level, through avoidance and active mitigation. Given the nature of the contrasting sensitivity of the site, it is clear that an avoidance mitigation strategy should be the primary venue for reducing the impact of the development and the layout as depicted above performs well in avoiding the sensitive features of the site. Alien plant invasion and erosion are identified as the primary impacts likely to be associated with the development after construction and specific measures to manage these risks will be required. In addition, some of the turbines occur within lowland environments that are seasonally waterlogged and the potential of the development to impact surface and subsurface flows within these habitats is highlighted as a concern. The specialist wetland assessment which is being conducted independently is this study would however also shed more light on the identity and location of turbines which may pose a risk to these areas, and this study therefore defers to that study in this regard. Overall, the wind energy facility is not likely to significantly impact the intact vegetation types at the site and the actual loss of intact vegetation would be very low based on the final layout. Therefore, the risk to the exceptional plant diversity of the area is likely to be low and the development would not be likely to result in significant net loss of plant biodiversity from the area. In terms of fauna, the situation is similar as the Critically Endangered Geometric Tortoise is known from the area, but the potential habitat of this species at the site is limited and well defined. Although the construction phase of the development is likely to generate a transient impact on fauna, there were no specialised faunal habitats within the development footprint and therefore it is not likely that the facility would generate significant long-term faunal impact. Summary assessment of the different impacts for the different phases of the development, before and after mitigation Construction Operation Decomissioning Impact Pre- Post- Pre- Post- Pre- Post- mitigation mitigation mitigation mitigation mitigation mitigation Loss of endangered vegetation types and plant High Low Low Low Medium Low species Medium- Medium- Negative impacts on fauna Medium Low Medium Low Low Low Impacts to wetlands and hydrology as a result of Medium Low Medium Low Medium Low erosion Alien plant invasion Medium Low Medium Low Medium Low ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROPOSED WOLSELEY WIND FARM, WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE: FAUNA & FLORA SPECIALIST ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT CONTENTS Chapter Description Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1-3 1 DETAILS OF SPECIALIST AND EXPERTISE 5 2 INTRODUCTION 8 2.1 Background 8 2.1.1 Relevant Aspects of the Development 8 2.2 Scope and limitations 9 2.2.1 Scope of Study 9 2.2.2 Limitations & Assumptions 10 2.3 Assessment Methodology 10 2.3.1 Data Sourcing and Review 10 2.3.2 Study Area Sensitivity Analysis 12 2.4 Description of any assumptions made, uncertainties or gaps in knowledge 13 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 14 3.1 Vegetation 14 3.1.1 Global & Regional Context 14 3.1.2 National Vegetation Types 14 3.1.3 Fine-Scale Habitat Types 16 3.1.4 Critical Biodiversity Areas 20 3.1.5 Listed Plant Species 20 3.2 Fauna 21 3.2.1 Mammals 21 3.2.2 Reptiles 22 3.2.3 Amphibians 23 3.3 Site Sensitivity Assessment 23 4 IMPACTS IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT 24 Proposed Wolseley Wind Farm November 2012 Fauna & Flora Specialist Study 4.1 Introduction 24 4.2 Identification of Impacts 25 4.2.1 Construction phase 25 4.2.2 Operational phase 25 4.2.3 Decommissioning phase 25 4.2.4 Cumulative Impacts 26 4.2.5 Identified Impacts to be Assessed 26 4.3 Potential Mitigation Measures 27 4.4 Impact Assessment Methodology 28 4.5 Impact Assessment – Wind Energy Facility & Associated Infrastructure 30 4.5.1 Construction Phase 30 4.5.2 Operational phase 33 4.5.3 Decommissioning Phase 35 4.5.4 Cumulative Impacts 37 4.6 Impact Assessment - Alternatives 38 4.6.1 No Go Option 38 5 CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 38 6 APPENDIX 1. LIST OF MAMMALS 41 7 APPENDIX 2. LIST OF REPTILES 44 8 APPENDIX 3. LIST OF AMPHIBIANS 47 9 LIST OF PLANT SPECIES 48 10 REFERENCES 40 Proposed Wolseley Wind Farm November 2012 Fauna & Flora Specialist Study LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location and layout of the Wolseley Wind Farm, illustrating the study farms in white as well as the various ESKOM lines which traverse the site. The wind farm will connect to the Romansrivier substation which can be seen towards the northern boundary of the site. ........................................................................................... 9 Figure 2. The National Vegetation Map as produced by Mucina & Rutherford (2006) for the Wolseley Wind Farm area, including rivers and wetlands delineated by the NFEPA (Nel et al. 2011). ..........................................................................................