Environmental Impact Assessment Document stage: Updated Project number: 50130-002 July 2019 Uzbekistan: Sustainable Hydropower Project Appendix II: Flora Report Prepared by Uzbekenergo for the Asian Development Bank. This is an updated version of the draft originally posted in May 2019 available on https://www.adb.org/projects/documents/uzb- 50130-002-eia This Environmental Impact Assessment is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section on ADB’s website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA ............................................................................ 1 2 SURVEY METHODS ............................................................................................................................ 2 2.1 FIRST SURVEY (AUGUST AND OCTOBER 2018) ................................................................................. 3 2.2 SECOND SURVEY (APRIL 2019) ....................................................................................................... 3 3 SURVEY RESULT ................................................................................................................................ 6 3.1 LITERATURE SURVEY ....................................................................................................................... 6 3.2 FIRST SURVEY (AUGUST AND OCTOBER 2018) .................................................................................. 7 3.3 SECOND SURVEY (APRIL 2019) ........................................................................................................ 8 3.4 NOTABLE SPECIES ........................................................................................................................... 8 3.5 INVASIVE SPECIES.......................................................................................................................... 11 3.6 VEGETATION ................................................................................................................................. 12 LITERATURE ............................................................................................................................................. 17 ANNEX 1. FLORA LIST (AUGUST AND OCTOBER 2018)...................................................................... 18 ANNEX 2. FLORA LIST (APRIL 2019) ...................................................................................................... 24 ANNEX 3. PICTURES OF PLANTS (AUGUST AND OCTOBER 2018) ................................................... 77 ANNEX 4. PICTURES OF PLANTS (APRIL 2019) ................................................................................... 86 ANNEX 5. PICTURES OF VEGETATION AND LANDSCAPE ................................................................. 88 List of Figures FIGURE 1. FLORA SURVEY POINTS .................................................................................................................... 3 FIGURE 2. SURVEY POINTS .............................................................................................................................. 6 FIGURE 3. HABITAT OF “TULIPA INGENS” AROUND RABAT INTAKE ..................................................................... 10 FIGURE 4: HABITAT OF “COUSINIA PRAESTANS” AROUND CHAPPASUY POWER HOUSE ....................................... 11 FIGURE 5. VEGETATION MAP (1/3) .................................................................................................................. 14 FIGURE 6. VEGETATION MAP (2/2) .................................................................................................................. 15 FIGURE 7. VEGETATION MAP (3/3) .................................................................................................................. 16 List of tables TABLE 1. NOTABLE SPECIES ............................................................................................................................. 8 TABLE 2. MAIN VEGETATION* ......................................................................................................................... 13 1 General description of the study area 1. The project area is located in the Shakhrisabz district of Kashkadarya province, on the northern slope of the Gissar Ridge, in the floodplain and on the adjacent slopes of the middle reaches of the Aksu River (left-bank tributary of the Kashkadarya River), above the Hisarak reservoir, between the gauging station located at the confluence of the Aksu River Sutushar downstream of the Hisarak village and the confluence of the Aksu and Gilandarya Rivers 14–15 km upstream. Absolute altitudes in the study area range from 1,190 to 1,440 m above sea level. According to the scheme of separation of vertical natural zones adopted in Uzbekistan (Geographic Atlas of Uzbekistan, 2012), the study area belongs to the Tau (mountain) zone and the lower Tau (low mountain) sub zone. The area has a strongly dissected relief, with a narrow valley of a turbulent mountain river and steep (30-45°) rocky and fine slopes, massifs of steep cliffs, cliffs and screes. The soil cover of the mountain slopes is represented by medium and strongly washed away skeletal brown carbonate soils, and in the lower part of the project area - by skeletal dark gray soils. Meadow alluvial soils are developed in the floodplain of the Aksu River. Cliffs, bedrock outcrops and mudflow removal cones, which are practically devoid of soil cover, occupy a considerable area. 2. According to the modern scheme of botanical-geographical zoning of Uzbekistan (Tojibaev et al., 2016; Tojibaev et al., 2017), the territory under study belongs to the Kashkadarya botanical-geographical region of the Western Gissar district of the Mountain - Middle Asian province. The Kashkadarya botanical-geographical region occupies the left bank of the Kashkadarya river basin in its upper and middle reaches (the northern slope of the Gissar ridge to the Guzardarya riverbed in the south-west). 3. According to the vegetation typology adopted in Uzbekistan (Vegetation cover of Uzbekistan and ways of its rational use, 1971-1984; Rachkovskaya et al., 2002), the vegetation of the project area belongs to the type of vegetation of Xerophilic Bush forests (Xerodendra, the so-called sibljak). Communities of sibljak form Bukhara almonds - Prunus bucharica (Korsh.) B.Fedtsch. ex Rehder (Amygdalus bucharica Korsh.), almonds thorny - Prunus spinosissima (Bunge) Franch. (Amygdalus spinosissima Bunge), hawthorn Turkestan - Crataegus pseudoheterophylla subsp. turkestanica (Pojark.) K. I. Chr. (C. turkestanica Pojark.), pistachio - Pistacia vera L., maples - Acer pentapomicum Stewart ex Brand. (Acer pubescens Franch.), Acer platanoides subsp. turkestanicum (Pax) P.C. de Jong (Acer turkestanicum Pax), Rosa ecae Aitch. and other Bushs, and the grass tier is dominated by couch grass - Elymus hispidus (Opiz) Melderis (Elytrigia trichophora (Link) Nevski), onion barley - Hordeum bulbosum L., the onion bluegrass is Poa bulbosa L. The most important are the Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski (T. crinitum (Schreb.) Nevski), the large umbrella species Prangos pabularia Lindl. In the upper part of the slopes, juniper junipers (Arceutodendra) from Zeravshan juniper polycarpos var. seravschanica (Kom.) Kitam are developed. (J. seravschanica Kom.) with participation of Turkestan maple - Acer turkestanicum. Rocks and rocky debris are occupied by sparse petrophilous vegetation (Petrophyta), the characteristic representatives of which are species of genera resin (Silene), skullcap (Scutellaria), figwort (Scrophularia), gills (Seseli), pseudosedum (Pseudosedum), ephedra (Ephedra). Due to frequent and strong mudflows, a significant part of the Aksu River floodplain is occupied by almost devoid of vegetation pebbles. Mountain floodplain forests (Therodendra, or mountain tugai), formed by willow (Salix) and comb (Tamarix) species and intrazonal groups of meadow and coastal hydrophilic vegetation (Equisetum arvense L. E. ramosissimum Desf. Poa pratensis L., Heracleum lehmannianum Bunge, Ranunculus baldshuanicus Regel, Mentha longifolia var. asiatica (Boriss) Rech. f.). Almost all arable land in the Aksu River floodplain and on relatively gentle slopes is used by the local population for gardens and gardens. The mountain slopes surrounding the Aksu River valley (except for hard- 1 to-reach rocky areas and screes) serve as spring-summer-autumn pastures for cattle and small ruminants. 4. Approximately 6-8 km south of the project area is the territory of the Gissar State Reserve, the largest of the reserves of Uzbekistan (80986 ha). According to the IUCN classification, this protected natural area (OPT) is classified as category Ia. According to the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Protected Natural Territories" No. 710-II of December 3, 2004 (in the current version of 14.09.2017), state reserves are protected areas of national importance with a strict regime of protection of natural sites and complexes, designed for the preservation and study of typical ecological systems, plant and animal genetic