Kenya Road Upgrade Biodiversity Action Plan.
GroundTruth was requested to develop a Biodiversity Action Plan for the prosed upgrade of the Illasit-Taveta road, in south-central Kenya. Biodiversity Action Plans are required for development projects in critical habitats and recommended for high-risk projects in natural areas.
The primary purpose of developing this Biodiversity Action Plan for the Illasit-Taveta Road Upgrade project was to achieve a ‘no net loss’ of biodiversity and a ‘net gain’ for critical habitat. This was achieved by identifying a set of management actions for maintaining or enhancing biodiversity patterns and processes in the area.
The total length of the Illasit-Taveta road is ~65km, originally a dirt road that had become degraded over time, without proper stormwater systems in place to control runoff into the environment.
The following steps were followed to formalise the Biodiversity Action Plan process:
Step 1: Available reports and databases covering biodiversity, applicable legislative and policy frameworks, and the road and stormwater designs were reviewed to establish construction and operation drivers and pressures.
Step 2: Vegetation and ecosystems (and species information where available) were mapped during a desktop study phase.
Step 3: An in-field assessment was conducted to identify natural vegetation, available habitats, and biodiversity sensitivities.
Step 4: A baseline was determined that defined the biodiversity features within the road corridor and highlighted key knowledge gaps.
Step 5: Key biodiversity impacts from the project were identified, accompanied by measures to mitigate those impacts.
Step 6: A complete Biodiversity Action Plan was finalised through consultation with key stakeholders.
Ultimately, the Biodiversity Action Plan outlined a number of priority actions for biodiversity conservation and enhancement, including options to avoid, reduce (or minimise), remedy (or rehabilitate/restore), and/or offset and significant impacts of the development. This included:
- Action Plan for Priority Terrestrial Biodiversity Features: Reduce wildlife mortality and disturbance and improve management and control of invasive alien plants.
- Action Plan for Aquatic Biodiversity Features: Minimise stormwater impacts and erosion within drainage systems, protect and maintain aquatic habitats and associated biodiversity, and avoid negative water quality impacts to aquatic habitats.
- Action Plan for Critical Biodiversity Features: Enhance conservation stewardship and protection of critical habitats.
- Biodiversity Offset Strategy: The goal of biodiversity offsets is to achieve ‘no net loss’, and preferably a ‘net gain’ of biodiversity. Ultimately, a biodiversity offset is a commitment by the developer to compensate for residual impacts on biodiversity.
- Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: For this project a monitoring and evaluation plan was designed to assess whether any unexpected impacts on biodiversity were occurring, allowing for an adaptive feedback approach, as well as confirm that the responsible parties were implementing the Biodiversity Action Plan and that the desired conservation outcomes were being achieved.
Lake Chala
A notable component of this project was that the southern section of the existing road passed the eastern side of Lake Chala. Lake Chala and its immediate surrounds for an Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) site that is the only known location where the Endangered freshwater crab Potamonautes platycentron and the Critically Endangered cichlid fish Oreochromis hunteri occur. The AZE aims to prevent extinction by identifying and safeguarding key sites that are the last remaining refuge for Endangered species.
In an effort to limit the risks to the Lake Chala AZE site and its biodiversity, the plan for the proposed road upgrade included a realignment to bypass the eastern boundary of the AZE site.
In Sum
Biodiversity Action Plans are designed to be living documents that should include agreed on timelines for regular review and update as new information arises and becomes available, the project progresses, and conservation context changes over time. The monitoring and evaluation protocols put in place allowed for adaptive management and accountability to the Biodiversity Action Plan recommendations from this project.
Overall, this project enabled the careful management of risk during the construction and operation phases of the road upgrade, thereby ensuring the best possible outcome for the development for people and biodiversity.