Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - Gibe III

Gibe III – Environmental and Social Impact Assessment 300 ENV R CS 002 C - A9003099
stream) locations of the river for the animals that move, provided a satisfactory protection is made by the
regional government or the project. These sites can be a sanctuary for the animals that tend to occupy
them.
2) Although minor, it is inevitable that the flooding will disturb and deprive the few wildlife inhabiting the
area and their existing habitat and they will be pushed to the proposed buffer area. Hence, animals
(especially the browsing animals) search for a new suitable habitat for feed source, shelter, breeding, egg
laying and hatching sites. This may make the wildlife vulnerable to poachers, when they leave their usual
dwelling and hiding sites.
3) Not all the valley land is topographically uniform; therefore the inundation at some sites may also cause
fragmentation of habitat and disrupt the movement of some animals.
4) It is mentioned already that the steep cliffs of the gorge and the riverine forest along the river are
important for several groups of birds such as herons and egrets, king fishers, barbets, chats and thrushes,
wood peckers, pigeons, shrikes, warblers and flycatchers, etc. As the reservoir level increases some of
their existing habitats will be flooded. However, because of the availability of wide areas in the River
Basin (upstream and downstream of this project site) in which these birds are found, it is unlikely that
the project will significantly affect the survivorship and well-being of these species.
5) As reported by settlers at Soro wereda specifically at Gortancho and Asawincho kebeles there were lions
which have been turned to man-eating which extensive search have been made by experts from the
Department of wildlife of ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Although the experts have
found none, they speculated the existence of four such lions. This was later found to be true, and as a
protection measure it was possible to hunt two of the lion legally (Kahsay and Chere 2007). Furthermore
these authors have indicated that hunting was permitted only to get rid of these lions otherwise no
hunting is allowed in the area.
Although the local communities from the kebeles located close to the reservoir have expressed their concern
that the incidents of wild animals’ attack on humans and domestic animals may increase due to flooding their
habitat there is no risk to human and wildlife conflict in the area. This is because during the survey it was
observed that due to a very high risk of malaria and trypanosomiasis humans and livestock do not inhabit the
area close to the future reservoir. However, a wildlife emergency response team has been proposed to deal
with any such unforeseen risks.
The following mitigation measures are recommended to offset these adverse impacts posed by the project:
• Establish Buffer Zone: During our survey we were able to observe that because of the risk of
Malaria and Trypanosomiasis humans and livestock do not inhabit most of the hill-slope of terraces
III and IV (altitude below 1,300 m a.s.l). Therefore, it is recommended to establish a buffer zone on
an estimated 50,000 ha of land in the area between altitudes 900 and 1,100 m a.s.l (See Figure 7.1)
and EEPCO to initiate a discussion with the Regional Governments to secure a protection zone status
to the buffer zone. The buffer area will serve as a refuge for the wildlife to move to the area
downstream or upstream of the reservoir. It will also support the bio-diversity conservation and
enhance the biological value of the area. Given time there will be the reestablishment of the riparian
zone on the edges of the reservoir from the woodland vegetation at the initial stage since the species
composition of the woodland vegetation and riparian vegetation are more or less similar except
differences in size. As the reservoir water level increases relatively slowly, wildlife (animals) that
will be affected will have time to adapt themselves to the new habitat and move to the dry place.
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