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Project Name: Kirne 65 MW Hydroelectric Project -
Environmental Assessment

Project Location: Khimti Khola River in central Nepal

Project Type: Hydroelectric

GANDA is preparing an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the 65 MW Kirne Hydroelectric Project on the Khimti Khola River in central Nepal. Key issues for this project are fisheries and socioeconomic impacts. The reports will meet the environmental requirements for hydroelectric projects for the Government of Nepal, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank. GANDA is also preparing portions of the Feasibility Study, as well as the various required plans such as the Social and Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan; Acquisition, Compensation and Relocation Plan; and possibly a Fisheries Management Plan. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. The GANDA team will participate in various public meetings as well as meeting with the international funding institutions. In this effort GANDA is working closely with Bernard Ingenieure, the lead engineering firm of the consortium, as well as local Nepali consultants. Bernard is an Austrian firm that is responsible for the engineering, hydrology, geology, design and economic portions of the Feasibility Study. The Client is SN Power, a Norwegian consortium that focuses on sustainable hydroelectric development in developing countries.

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Project Name: Kadena Air Base Biological Surveys

Project Location: Kadena Air Base (AFB), Okinawa

Project Type: Biological

GANDA conducted natural resource surveys at Kadena AFB, Okinawa. A natural resource survey of the 9-acre subject parcel was conducted in January 2007 in order to find and document threatened and endangered species. Determination that a species was present was based on direct observation, or appropriate signs as evidence of occurrence, such a nests, burrows, or prey remains. Records for Kadena AFB were consulted for previous plants and animals documented in the area. GANDA project field personnel also identied and evaluated naturally or culturally significant trees within the study parcel.

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Project Name: Yokota Air Base Biological and Cultural Surveys

Project Location: Yokota Air Base (YAB), Japan

Project Type: Biological and Cultural

GANDA conducted natural and cultural resource surveys at Yokota Air Base (YAB), Japan. Background research on the specific parcel and surrounding area was completed to determine whether significant cultural resources may be adversely affected as a result of the proposed action. A natural resource survey of the 1-acre subject parcel was conducted in order to find and document threatened and endangered species as identified in the Japan Environmental Governing Standards (JEGS) Chapter 13 and the Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP) for YAB. The project area was surveyed to identify suitable habitat for threatened or endangered plant and animal species. Suitable habitat was recorded and mapped on an aerial photograph.

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Project Name: Cultural Survey, Palau Resort

Project Location: Ngerekebesang, Koror State, Republic of Palau

Project Type: Cultural

GANDA surveyed 8.2 acres in Ngerekebesang, Koror State, Republic of Palau for the construction of the Palau Resort. This work included the removal of three previously identified human burials in an historic cemetery.

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Project Name:Resource Management and Development Suitability Study for the Republic of Palau

Project Location: Republic of Palau

Project Type: Biological and Cultural

GANDA was part of a multi-disciplinary team which conducted a Resource Management and Development Suitability Study for the Republic of Palau. The project involved extensive on-site data collection and community level participation through village-level, agency, and traditional leadership-level meetings and presentations. In addition, GANDA was responsible for conducting a GIS-based opportunities and constraints analysis, working with local planning groups for each of Palau’s 16 states, and developing national-level and state-level suitability maps for potential future development based on planning scenarios put forth by the states and the Republic. The study’s results will provide the basis for national and state-level master planning efforts presently underway in the Republic. In addition to the GIS components highlighted above, GANDA was responsible for the biological and cultural components of the overall project.

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Project Name: American Samoa Wetlands Management Plan

Project Location: Islands of Tutuila, Manu‘a and Aunu‘u, American Samoa

Project Type: Biological

Company staff coordinated the development of a comprehensive wetlands management plan for the islands of Tutuila, Manu‘a and Aunu‘u, American Samoa. The goal of the two-phased project was to establish a policy framework for managing the islands’ wetland resources, particularly mangrove swamps. The project entailed mapping and characterizing existing wetlands, identifying the functional values of the wetlands, reviewing wetland losses, preparing mitigation plans to enhance and recreate wetlands, and conducting an economic assessment of wetland values. We developed the management plan through input and coordination meetings with pertinent agencies (EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, etc.). We also gathered data through a community user participation program that focused on the socioeconomic and cultural factors affecting the islands’ wetlands. Our final report guided the American Samoa government in promulgating rules and regulations for the islands’ Special Management Areas, pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972.

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Project Name: Caribou Risk Assessment

Project Location: Mount Revelstoke National Park, British Columbia, Canada

Project Type: Biology

GANDA conducted an extensive literature review and wrote an ecological assessment of the risks and benefits of the establishment of a mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) captive rearing program in the Revelstoke Greater Ecosystem. The purpose was to assess the ecological implications, at multiple scales, of the establishment of captive rearing pens in the Revelstoke herd in the greater Revelstoke and Columbia forest ecosystem. The risks and benefits to ecosystem components and functions were discussed. These issues included evidence that calf survivorship is a major limiting factor in population size; recruitment of caribou; effects of habitat fragmentation and loss on subpopulations and disease; effects of pens on prime caribou habitat; evaluation of predation and predator control, present and future landscape scenarios.

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Project Name: Large Dams and Best Practices

Project Location: Bangkok, Thailand; Lao PDR; Sri Lanka; PRC; Indonesia

Project Type: Biology

John Garcia was the Environmental Panelist on the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Panel of Experts which is overseeing the implementation of the ADB's "Large Dams and Best Practices" Technical Assistance project (TA). The focus of the TA was to assess environmental impacts resulting from the construction and operation of large dam hydroelectric, flood control and water supply projects in Southeast Asia. The panel provided quality control and methodological oversight for the consulting team performing the large dam review study.

The four case study facilities reviewed were: Nam Ngum in the Lao PDR,
Victoria in Sri Lanka, Cirata in Indonesia and Lingjintan in the People's
Republic of China, Hunan Province.

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