Biodiversity Action Plan Project Number: 51257-001 August 2019 GEO: North–South Corridor (Kvesheti–Kobi) Road Project Prepared by Earth Active and DG Consulting Ltd. for the Asian Development Bank. This report 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. KVESHETI – KOBI ROAD NORTH SOUTH HIGHWAY, GEORGIA BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN Kvesheti – Kobi Road Upgrade Biodiversity Action Plan EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document provides the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for the proposed Kvesheti to Kobi Road Upgrade Project. It is informed by, and should be read alongside, the Project Critical Habitat Assessment (CHA). The CHA has identified potential areas of Critical Habitat (CH) and Priority Biodiversity Features (PBF) that require special protection or mitigation to ensure that the Project achieves “no net conservation loss” or “net conservation gain” as appropriate. The Project is part of a program launched by the Government of Georgia (GoG) and the Roads Department to upgrade the major roads of the country. The road between Kvesheti and Kobi currently runs for some 35km and is at times impassable in the winter months, whilst also having a poor safety record. The Roads Department is therefore considering the construction of a new section of road of around 22.7km in length (“the Project) to both bypass Kvesheti and avoid the Jvari pass. This new section of road would run through the Tereg valley to Tskere and then on to Kobi via a 9km tunnel at a height of around 1960m. It would also require construction of 7 new bridges (resulting in some 1.8km of bridges in this section in total). The new alignment would be divided into two construction packages. The BAPs contained in this document include a set of actions that together can help ensure the conservation or enhancement of potentially affected habitats and species considered of particular conservation value. They build on the key mitigation and compensation measures developed as part of the Project ESIA process and are intended to help the Project comply with both national legislation/policy requirements and international environmental requirements. These include those of both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The BAPs are intended to focus on those species and habitats that need special management, and are based on the use of the Mitigation Hierarchy, with impact avoidance prioritised, followed by reduction and mitigation in severity, with measurable offsets (and/or additional conservation actions) only applied as a when residual impacts are unavoidable. The BAPs include a series of objectives and management measures to mitigate residual impacts to achieve no net loss/net gains of PBF or CH and have been developed with input from a range of stakeholders, including government, EBRD & ADB, external experts, local/international conservation organisations and project-affected communities. This document includes BAPs for the following notable habitats and species: • Habitats: Birch Krummholz and Low Grass Marshes • Endemic Plant Species • Breeding birds: Black Grouse, Egyptian Vulture, Corncrake • Migrating Raptors • Mammals: Chamois, Otter, Bats It also includes information on proposed monitoring and additional conservation actions and (as an annex) additional information regarding conservation measures to support no net loss of other natural habitats and notable fauna. Kvesheti – Kobi Road Upgrade Biodiversity Action Plan CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 7 1.1 Document Purpose ........................................................................................................ 7 1.2 Need for the BAP ............................................................................................................ 7 1.3 Document Objectives .................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Application of the Mitigation Hierarchy ................................................................... 8 1.5 Associated Documents ................................................................................................ 9 1.6 Stakeholder Input ........................................................................................................... 9 2 LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS FOR THE CHA/AA.................................. 10 2.1 International Legislation and Policy ....................................................................... 10 2.2 EU – Related Obligations ........................................................................................... 10 2.4 National Legislation ..................................................................................................... 11 2.8 The Georgian Red List and Red Book .................................................................... 12 2.9 International Financial Institution Safeguards ..................................................... 12 International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards and Guidance ............................................................................................................................... 12 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Performance Requirements ...................................................................................................................... 13 Asian Development Bank (ADB) Safeguards .............................................................. 13 3 PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND HABITATS AFFECTED ......................................... 15 3.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 15 3.2 Lot 1 (Tskere-Kobi) Chainage KM 12.7 – KM 22.7. .............................................. 16 4 BAP IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS ............................................................................ 27 4.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 27 4.2 Owners Engineer .......................................................................................................... 27 4.3 EPC Contractor ............................................................................................................. 28 5 ACTION PLAN FOR NOTABLE HABITATS ............................................................... 30 5.1 Action Plan for Sub-Alpine Birch Krummholz ..................................................... 30 5.2 Action Plan for Low Grass Marshes ....................................................................... 32 6ACTION PLAN FOR ENDEMIC PLANT SPECIES ...................................................... 34 7 ACTION PLANS FOR NOTABLE BIRDS .................................................................... 36 7.1 Action Plan for Caucasian Black Grouse .............................................................. 36 7.2 Action Plan for Egyptian Vulture ............................................................................. 37 7.3 Action Plan for Corncrake ......................................................................................... 37 7.4 Action Plan for Migratory Raptors ........................................................................... 42 8 ACTION PLANS FOR NOTABLE MAMMALS ............................................................ 45 8.1 Action Plan for Caucasian Chamois ....................................................................... 45 8.2 Action Plan for Otters ................................................................................................. 46 8.3 Action Plan for Bats .................................................................................................... 52 9 BIODIVERSITY MONITORING AND EVALUATION PROGRAMME AND ADDITIONAL CONSERVATION ACTIONS .................................................................... 56 9.1 Aim and Objectives ..................................................................................................... 56 9.2 Monitoring Indicators .................................................................................................. 57 Kvesheti – Kobi Road Upgrade Biodiversity Action Plan 9.3 Monitoring Methodologies ......................................................................................... 57 9.4 Monitoring Timescale and Reporting ..................................................................... 58 9.5 Evaluation ...................................................................................................................... 58 9.6 Dissemination ............................................................................................................... 59 9.7 Resources ...................................................................................................................... 59 APPENDICES ANNEX A: KEY NATURAL HABITATS TO BE PROTECTED THROUGH NO NET LOSS ANNEX B: KEY FAUNA FOR WHICH ADDITIONAL