Guizhou Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection and Development Project Environmental Impact Assessment Guiyang Hydropower Investigation Design & Research Institute China Hydropower Engineering Consultation Group Corporation September 18
Risks of Adverse Impacts at Strategic and Provincial Level
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- Cultural Heritage Impacts and Mitigation
- Specific Risks Likely in All Sites
- Impacts on Eco-environment
- Impact on Water Environment
- Impact on Ambient Air and Mitigation
- Impact on Acoustic Environment and Mitigation
- Impact of Solid Waste and Mitigation
- Landscape and Visual Impacts and Mitigation
Risks of Adverse Impacts at Strategic and Provincial LevelThe SEA suggests that there are a number of potential risks of adverse impacts, both at strategic and provincial levels, to be induced by the development of the tourism in Guizhou identified in the SEA and recommendation are proposed include: Cultural Heritage Impacts and MitigationA. Physical Cultural Heritage Damaged or Destroyed Damage or destruction of physical cultural heritage may occur as a result of demolition, reconstruction of inappropriate restoration of physical monuments, structures and significant architecture. This may result from inappropriate siting of new tourist facilities or restoration/reconstruction of existing structures by unqualified personnel. Unnecessary reconstruction or restoration that does not match the original architecture, style and colour and recreation of minority heritage is a threat to heritages. The renovation of traditional buildings with low quality materials and without expert guidance may result in the irreversible loss to valuable heritage. B. Recommendation: Cultural Heritage Management Observatory A Cultural Heritage Management Observatory that directs local level expert teams is proposed to minimize the risk of adverse effects on cultural heritage and ensure that heriateg is not reduced simply to an economic commodity for tourism purposes, but rather is managed for its intrinsic and future value for the people of Guizhou. The main functions of the observatory would include the gathering and analysis of technical knowledge and communication between the variety of institutions, business and organizations concerned with cultural heritage. The Observatory would provide know-how and expertise for the effective sustainable management, conservation and preservation of Guizhou’s material and intangible heritage and cultural landscapes, and mitigate against inappropriate commercial exploitation. Developing Building and Restoration Standards for Minority Villages It is recommended that detailed building and restoration standards to be applied and jointly enforced by planning authorities and residents in minority villages be developed. All relevant authorities including those dealing with tourism, heritage, infrastructure and local development should participate in the elaboration of the standards and subsequent guidelines. The process should include extensive consultation with local residents to ensure that protected settlement continue to be fit places in which to live and can upgrade to meet people’s expectations of gradually improving living standards. Its implementation will require constant dialogue and consultation with affected communities and the establishment of a special committee within each village association to approve interventions and upgrading projects, including those initiated by private investors and local authorities. C. Intangible Cultural Heritage Damaged or Altered The uniqueness of ethnic cultures depends greatly on the environmental closure. If the closure is “open up” for tourism development, preservation of ethnic culture may be compromised. The Guizhou Tourism Agency acknowledges that traditional lifestyles and production methods, languages and rites, songs and dramas have changed in many places and are under threat in many more aspects. “Opening up” of previously inaccessible minority areas for tourism poses a risk that ethnic heritage will be commercialized, homogenized or otherwise altered. D. Recommendation: A Code of Ethics for the Use and Interpretation of Intangible Heritage: This would comprise a comprehensive set of principles to guide public and private stakeholders involved in the use of intangible heritage as a tourism resource. The Code of Ethics would provide a common voluntary framework to respect and preserve vulnerable heritage and to avoid it being homogenized or degraded as a result of tourism development; Guidelines for the Use and Interpretation of Intangible Heritage: The guideline would ensure that those developing tourism products involving minority customs and traditions understand the importance of preserving authenticity and avoid rampant commercialization. The guideline would empower local communities to decide which aspects of their cultural heritage may be used for tourism and which parts should be safeguarded for traditional use. It would also ensure that local communities maintain control over the development of interpretative material concerning minority culture under the technical guidance of the proposed Provincial.Observatory Specific Risks Likely in All SitesThere are risks of adverse environmental impacts at each site, but all can be avoided, mitigated or compensated, and all of them are so significant or severe that they cannot be mitigated or minimized. The most significant potential impacts identified are at the Guanling National Geo-Park (related to the construction of the exhibition hall of triasichthyosaur and construction of rock and green area of trias park) and Xingyi National Geo-park (related to the construction of a new museum), Wanfenglin National Scenic Area (related to reconstruction of parking lots, hinterland pedstrain and off-road bike experience system) and Shamu River National Scenic Area (related to construction of Niejiayan Weather Bridge and Liangchahe bridge). All other impacts are of more limited significance and can be mitigated to an acceptable level. As a great number of cultural heritage assets is involved in the project, the mitigation for the impacts as a result of repair and maintenance works proposed under such component is described in Chapter 7 Heritage Conservation Plan. Table 6.3-2 sets out a summary of the risks that apply to more than one site, and in most cases all sites, including proposed mitigation measures. Further detail on risks that are unique to particular sites is provided in Section 6.4. Impacts on Eco-environmentImpact of Land Occupation As the project is located within a karst area which is vulnerable to soil erosion, land occupation may be a major concern for construction in such areas. The land to be occupied by the project is mainly the disused land, with a total area of 99.6hm2, 12.9hm2 of which is state-owned. The area of collective land is 3.5hm2 and 83.2hm2 of collective land will be reallocated within the village, and the area of temporary land occupation is 7.9hm2. The permanent land occupation is to occur under the component of Longli Ancient Town, and the vegetaiton disturbance is thus limited. . The temporary land occupation for transport facilities construction will greatly impact the forest and vegetation area because of the compaction by construction vehicle. The land occupation caused by pavement, parking space and access roads are almost covered with secondary forest, and it will cause less impact.. The excavation of earth and stone in construction of pipes will cause some impacts on vegetation. Because most of the excavations are located at the open space or grassland in villages, the impact on terrestrial plant caused by construction is not severe. Most of the sanitation facilities are small-scale with scattered distribution. The land occupation of the sanitation is limited and in the developed areas. It will not cause serious impact on terrestrial plants. If there are rare plants and ancient trees in project regions, careful consideration for relocation of the proposed facilities will be taken to avoid these plants. Impact on Terrestrial Animals During the construction, the amphibians and reptiles will move out of construction areas, as well as birds and mammals. The animals adjacent to construction areas would be forced to leave because of construction disturbance. After the construction is completed and the vegetation is restored, the animals can return to the original areas. The excessive lumbering caused by construction personnel might destruct the habitats of wildlife. Another serious threat to wild animals is the vogue of eating venison. The hunting of wild animals such as frog, snake, culver, rabbit, badger and so on will accelerate the imbalance of animal population and decrease the number of species. There are frequent human activities in the project areas and the recorded protection animals are not observed. Even though, the construction activities should still be regulated to mitigate the impact on the eco-environment. Impact on Aquatic Life The components such as river regulation and ancient porttary repair might involve the biotope of aquatic life. Most of the water systems involved by the projects are close to the villages and the aquatic life is adepted to human activities. Because of the small construction scale and short construction period of the components, it will not cause severe and adverse impact on the aquatic life in the water systems. Impacts on Allien Species Due to long history of isolation, the eco-system in Guizhou is very vulnerable to introduction of new species, which may be brought along with timber materials or sapling for greening. New pathogens/ virus or pest that are not immune for the host eco-system may cause devastating impact, including the change of population of certain species, hence the food chain balance. B Operation Phase Impact on Flora and Fauma The impacts on forest trees caused by tourism activities are mainly physical damages, such as broken branches, nail caused scars, use of wood for fire and exposed roots. And the trees near the pathway will be damaged more seriously. Tourism disturbance on the species has both advantage and disadvantage. The moderate tourism interference disturbance can increase the species diversity of plant, because moderate interference does not cause destruction of plants but may impact on the growth of dominant species. The interference of high frequency will decrease the species diversity of the eco-environment. The principle of diversity stability theory indicates that the reduction of biological diversity will undermine the stability of regional natural ecological system when resources are used in excess of the carrying capacity of the eco-environment. In the process of tourism development in natural sites, particularly in the regions with high ecological importance and preserved value, it is dangerous to introduce alien flowers and ornamental trees for establishment of green belt or vegetation restoration. The introduction of plants of new species in these areas is often the important source of invasiveion of species which is possible to damage the local biological diversity and ecosystem seriously. Therefore, the trees species selection should be done under the guidance of experts. .
The change of land use as a result of tourism development will gradually decrease the territories of wildlife, in particular, some linear facilities such as road, pathway, ropeway, drain and electrical wiring network have the most severe impacts on the natural habitat of wildlife.Although only small area of land is to be occupied, it will create fragmentation of habitat and population of wildlife. These facilities will become the barriers for the daily activities of animals, thus to change the pattern of the animal life. The impacts include the change of animal population and reproduction. The wild animals are very sensitive to the human activities such as traffic noise, loud voice, light, close to the animal nests, feeding, alteration of soils and vegetation. It will change the habit of wild animals and force them to leave their habitat. Once endangered animals are found in the operation of the project, it should be reported to the administrative authorities and the animals should be protected minimizing the impacts of tourism. C. Mitigation: Prevention of Alien Species There are many examples of ecological disasters caused by intrusion of exotic species. Alien species intrusion includes the spread of new disease or virus and the imbalance of food chain. Therefore, the impact of alien species should be carefully considered in the selection of plants for greening in the project area. More attention should be given to the prevention of exotic species impact by the measures of improving the quarantine system, strengthening the monitoring and management of exotic species, and establishing species information system. Local species should be given preferable consideration in restoring vegetation or greening works. Timbers of local origin should be preferably used and the timber from other places should be controlled via stringent management of quarantine inspection. Construction Phase Establish warning signs for the site of construction, so as to prohibit the personnel move out of the area in order to decrease the damage to landscape and vegetation; Preserve the top soil on the temporary land occupation area for the establishment of vegetation; Schedule the river regulation works to the low flow season, to reduce the impact on water quality and disturbance of aquatic animals; Strengthen the environmental protection awareness and provide education program for the construction workers; Prohibit the construction workers from catching frogs, snakes, birds and other animals to reduce the impact on eco-environment; Select the construction site away from the sensitive area; Adopt proven construction techniques and methods to control and reduce the impact on vegetation and landscape caused by construction activity such as excavation works; Loosen the compacted soil and replant in the construction sites once the construction is completed; The national protected rare plants, ancient trees and so on will be classified and marked with notice board. The management department will carry out fertilization measures to keep the good growth of the plants; and Operation Phase Education programs should be provided to the tour guides and the tourists for the protection of environment; Best behavior of tourists should be promulgated to encourage the good behavior in protection of the environment. Tourist flow should be controlled based on the assessment environment carrying capacity. Impact on Water EnvironmentGroundwater and particularly surface water quality are among the most critical environmental issues for Guizhou. Existing sources of water pollution mainly include domestic wastewater and agricultural runoff in the project area. Both the construction and operation of the project will cause adverse impacts on water environment. Linkage between tourism and water quality may be positive and negative. On one hand, increased tourism may create the demand and provide incentives for investment in water treatment facilities in these project areas where lack of clean water supply facilities. However, increased tourism to the project area which are mainly rural setting, particularly the small villages without (or with very basic) wastewater treatment facilities may result in a deterioration of surface and groundwater quality. There is a risk that the increased volume of wastewater from guesthouses and small hotels may cause deterioration of surface water and groundwater quality and thus cause health impacts on local communities that are dependent on this water, particularly those who consume untreated water. Negative impacts to surface water may also result from storage solid waste along river banks and dumping of waste into surface waters by tourists themselves or the operators of hotels, guesthouse and restaurants. Water quality impacts are likely to be of greatest concern as a result of informal rural village tourism, such as overnight homestay accommodation and trip to rural area that are strongly promoted in the project as a means for poverty alleviation, since much of this tourism is informal and there are often not adequate toilet facilities. This project has incorporated provision of toilets and construction of domestic wastewater collection and treatment facilities to accommodate the wastewater flow resulting from the increased volume of tourists into the project area as well as from the host communities. The river regulation and sewage treatment facilities will improve the water environment after implementation. The construction sites of this project are scattered across the project area in small size, the impacts are considered to be limited. According to the analysis, the river regulation and sewage treatment facilities have the most important impact on the water environment. A. Construction Phase The wastewater generated in the construction sites includes construction effluent and domestic sewage. The construction effluents mainly are generated in the progress of concrete mixing, equipment washing and materials cleaning. Because of the scattered dispersion of construction sites less use of concrete and machine in construction, more labor and indigenous techniques will be applied, generating less effluent so the impact on water environment will be limited. The domestic sewage is mainly generated from the sanitation facilities and dining hall in the workers’ camps. The major pollutants in domestic sewage are CODcr, NH3-N, even the bacteria and pathogens. Despite the quantity of sewage in each construction site is small, it will affect the water environment and landscape if it is discharged into surface water without proper treatment. It is required to set up septic tanks in construction sites. The sewage can be utilised for agricultural application after treatment. The sediments in rivers will be drastically disturbed by river dredging exercise which will lead to resuspension of sediments and severe pollution of water. B. Mitigation: Construction Phase The contractors should build septic tanks for domestic sewage treatment and applied in farmlands; The construction wastewater should be treated in a settled tank and the treated effluent should be reused on site; Make full use of the existing sanitary facilities in the scenic area; It is forbidden to pile construction materials on the river bank in the construction sites. The materials must be covered with canvas to prevent it from dropping into the rivers in rainy days; Dredging exercise should be well scheduled. Operation Phase The wastewater is mostly the domestic sewage generated by tourists and the staff in scenic areas in the operation phase. The wastewater will be treated by the sewage treatment facilities constructed under the project and then be used for municipal irrigation. The sludge should be regularly transported to the landfill facility in the county. C. Impact on Sensitive Surface Water by Sewage Facilities and Mitigation There are a number of sewage facilities to be constructed close to important surface waters in this project. Summary of the facilities and the surface waters are given in Table 6.3-1 below. According to the analyses of the feasibility study report, most of the designed sewage treatment facilities are retarding basins followed by overflow (OF) land treatment facilities which is easy to operate at low operating costs. The proven experience of operation of this process indicates that it has least accidental discharge. As most of the construction sites are located in rural areas, most of the treated effluent can be used for agricultural irrigation. Table 6.3-1 Impact Assessment of Sewage Treatment in Sensitive Area
Impact on Ambient Air and MitigationA. Construction Phase The air-borne dust caused by the construction will have a negative impact on the ambient air quality in the construction areas. It mainly comes from the following sources: excavation and filling, loading and unloading, vehicle movement, and piling, stockpiling of powder materials. Asphalt mixing for road pavement is another major source of concern for ambient air impact at construction phase. The air pollutants, mainly consisting of THC, TSP and BaP, will emit from the asphalt melting and paving exercises. As described by relevant reports for similar projects, the concentration of BaP is less than 0.0001 mg/m3 50 m leeward from the enclosed asphalt melting station. The THC is less than 0.16 mg/m3 60 m leeward from the station. All of these values meet the applicable standards. Therefore the area impacted by asphalt melting process is less than 50 – 60 m from the source. However the site for asphalt processing station should be carefully selected in line with the requirement for sanitation protection distance. According to the requirement, the melting station will be sited away from resident centers, at least 300 m leeward from residential houses. The dust trap devices should be installed at the air outlet of the asphalt processing station. In relative terms, pavement will produce less amount of toxic matter than melting and mixing processes. However, the components of Guanling National Geo-Park Heritage Protection and Shanmu River Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection are required to meet a higher class of Ambient Air Quality Standards (GB3095-1996) -class I standard. Strict protection measures should be implemented to obtain class I standards in construction in these regions.Alsphalt mixing and melting stations should be prohibited from the areas in the Guanling National Geo-Park Heritage Protection and Shanmu River Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection components. The impacts on ambient air are temporary in construction areas. It will disappear upon completion of construction. B. Operation Phase In the operation phase of this project, especially the peak season of tourism, there will be a large number of tourists entering the regions as well as the automobiles. The nitrogen oxides and dust caused by traffic will affect the ambient air quality in the project areas. Even though the impact is limited, the protection measures should be strengthened to keep good environment and the sustainable development of the project areas. In addition, if the cultural and natural heritage tourism develops without reasonable planning and guidance, the restaurants might discharge flue gas that pollutes the ambient air. C. Mitigation: Construction Phase Sprinkle water everyday in the excavation areas to accelerate the precipitation of dust, at least three times for the sites within the components in Guanling National Geo-Park Heritage Protection and Shanmu River Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection. In windy days, water spray and monitoring should be enhanced in these sensitive areas; The cement should be covered during transportation in order to mitigate the dust pollution; The melting station will be sited away from resident centers, at least 300 m leeward from residential houses nearby. The dust precipitator should be installed at the air outlet of the asphalt processing station; Purchase finished asphalt to prevent the pollution caused by asphalt smoke in the sensitive areas of Guanling National Geo-Park Heritage Protection and Shanmu River Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection; The vehicles should be equipped with tail gas purifier to mitigate pollution; Keep the road in clean and good condition; The piled construction materials and earth should be placed in fenced areas; and The vehicles transporting the earth or solid waste should be covered before leaving the construction area. Operation Phase Strengthen the planting around the park and living areas in order to decrease the impacts of air pollutant;. The kitchen smoke should be treated by precipitators before emiting into open air through a stack; and The management of vehicles in the scenic areas should be strengthened as the vehicles should use unleaded petrol, be equipped with exhaust purification, vehicle emission standards should be enforced and regularly controlled. The traffic management should be strengthened to avoid the concentrated emissions caused by intensive use of vehicles during traffic peaks. Impact on Acoustic Environment and MitigationA. Construction Phase The acoustic environment will be affected by the construction activities during the construction phase. The major noise source during the construction phase comes from construction equipments and the vehicles. Because the construction sites are small and most of the construction machinery are medium-sized, the impact on regional acoustic environment is limited and the impact will disappear immediately after the construction is completed. However, the components of Guanling National Geo-Park Heritage Protection, Shanmu River Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection, Yangasha National Cultural Heritage Protection and Jianhe County Tourism Information Center are in such sensitive areas that much higher acoustic environmental quality of Urban Regional Environmental Noise Standards (GB3096-93) class I standard is required to be complied with. Enhanced protection measures should be implemented to meet class I standards in these sensitive regions. B. Operation Phase The impact on acoustic environment in operation phase is mainly the traffic noise in the peak season of tourism and the noise of entertainment activities. C. Mitigation: Construction Phase The construction unit should choose reasonable time for construction and avoid construction at night. If the construction at night is inevitable, the construction unit should post notification about construction period for the supervision to residents; the construction should be prohibited from 10 pm to 6 am near the sensitive receptors; The pathway should be kept away from sensitive recptors in design stage; Reduce the simultaneous operation hours of equipment and the vehicles will be forbidden whistling; Choose the mechanical equipments with low noise or equip with muffler; Limit the speed of vehicles. Enhance the repair and maintenance of mechanical equipments and vehicles to keep them in good shape; and Construction team should be equipped with portable detecting device to monitor the noise level at the sensitive receptors. Operation Phase The green belt along the road sides should be finished as soon as possible to reduce the noise pollution and to improve the ecological environment; The traffic of very noisy vehicles should be banned. The speed of vehicles should be limited in the sensitive areas. Impact of Solid Waste and MitigationA. Construction Phase According to the estimation, each construction site will generate about 18kg domestic solid waste per day. These domestic solid waste should be well managed to avoid adverse impact on surrounding encironment. Generally, the impact of solid waste in construction phase is short-term and localized, which will disappear after construction is completed. The construction of this project will also generate some construction solid waste. As each component is of small scale and the construction period is short, the quantity of construction solid waste is not large. Most of the construction solid waste can be used for backfilling. River dredging exercise will generate sediments in large amount requiring proper disposal. Where the solid wastes are not well managed along the river, soil erosion may be likely to occur in rain season, leading to pollution of water course. B. Operation Phase In the operation phase of this project, solid wastes are typically generated from the tourism attractions where visitors may discard emty bottles and papers, so do the public toilets and the catering facilities for food and drinking and accommodation. C. Mitigation: Construction Phase The spoils and construction wastes should be collected and transported to a designated site and the site should be fenced to prevent soil erosion and environmental pollution;. Make full use of the existing garbage collection facility in the scenic area or set simple facility for garbage collection. Disposal of the solid wastes by the is required by the regulations for scenic areas if the construction is in such areas; Require the construction personnel not to discard garbage; and The sediments dredged from river should be collected and transported to the landfill in the county for disposal. Operation Phase Strengthen public education against littering garbage. The gabage should be collected and transported to the municipal disposal station by local sanitation team; Garbage bins should be provided in the tourists attractions, especially in popular museums and catering facilities; and The sludges from WWT facilities should be transported to the landfill in the county for landfill. Landscape and Visual Impacts and MitigationTourism development may have a positive effect in terms of maintaining and sometimes re-instating natural landscape and vegetation. Stakeholder consultation taken for the SEA prove that community based management initiatives to control logging, restrict cultivation on marginal slopes and preserve the architectural style of villages can be successful where communities are able to generate income from the tourism sector. There is a high level of awareness within the community that the traditional achitechtural style of the village is itself a tourism attraction and the construction of modern buildings will detract from this and therefore make it less attractive to tourists. However, tourism development may also cause direct and indirect landscape and visual impacts. Tourism development demands amenity of infrastructure such as hotels, shops and recreational facilities that may result in landscape and visual impacts where their siting, architectural style or color are inconsistent with the surrounding environment. This impact will become particularly significant for heritage-based tourism development, if new constructions are not compatible to host environment and cultural costumes. Mitigation: There is currently little consideration of landscape and visual impacts outside of classified scenic areas. There are no specific requirements for their consideration under the EIA Law and accompanying technical guideline. Given the strategic importance of the tourism sector to Guizhou’s economy, it is recommended that the landscape and visual impact of construction projects be incorporated into EIA procedures for Guizhou. It is also important that development and renovation within remote ethnic minority villages should strictly follow local style with local materials to minimize potential negative visual impact. Table 6.3-2 General Environmental Impacts Predicted and Mitigation Measures
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