The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve REDD Project

increasing project awareness and involvement, as well aslocal job creation.Quality and Condition of Aquatic and Wetland EcosystemsGiven the prevalence of open wetland or other hydrologicallysensitive ecosystems within the Project Zone, considerationshould be given to monitoring the status of these ecosystems. Ata minimum, monitoring of water quality in the Seruyan River, andpossibly nearby Lake Sembuluh, should be included in the plan.Water quality measurements should include basic health andecological parameters such as dissolved organic matter,sedimentation loads, pH and alkalinity, dissolved oxygen levels,and phyto and zooplankton loads, among other. Experts shouldbe consulted in the development of specific methods of datacollection and analysis, subject to the same quality considerationsoutlined under point (ii) above.FireThe seasonal occurrence of fire in periodically inundatedgrasslands, which historically have been a main source of groundfires, should be monitored. Periodic fires have direct negativeimpacts on resident wetland wildlife, and can set back theregeneration or accumulation of biodiversity habitat in theseimportant areas. Moreover, such burning, especially in peatareas, has off-­‐site negative impacts on water quality in theSeruyan and air quality in the Project Zone (which can affectpollination success of insect-­‐dependent plant species). Such firesalso increase the risk of wildfires spreading from the south intothe mature central areas of peat swamp forest identified as highpriority in Section G 1.8.2.B3.2. Preliminary High Conservation ValuesMonitoring PlanDevelop an initial plan for assessing the effectiveness of measures usedto maintain or enhance High Conservation Values related to globally,regionally or nationally significant biodiversity (G1.8.1-­‐3) present in theproject zone.All of the monitoring described above under Section B3.1 appliesdirectly to monitoring under this section for ensuring themaintenance of HCVs 1-­‐3 in the Project Zone. The protection offorests, maintenance and/or restoration of connectivity,sustainability of wildlife populations, and prevention of fire arecentral to both biodiversity in the broad sense and theexceptional biodiversity attributes emphasized under SectionsG1.8.1-­‐3.B3.3. Development of Comprehensive BiodiversityMonitoring PlanCommit to developing a full monitoring plan within six months of theproject start date or within twelve months of validation against theStandards and to disseminate this plan and the results of monitoring,ensuring that they are made publicly available on the internet and arecommunicated to the communities and other stakeholders.Project proponents are committed to developing a fullbiodiversity monitoring plan within twelve months of validationagainst the CCB Standards. In addition to the development of amonitoring plan, Phase II of the Biodiversity Assessment – to beconducted by Daemeter Consulting – will focus on four maintasks: (i) the refinement of ecosystem mapping in the ProjectZone through a combination of remote sensing (preferably using269