Page 37 - WIS
P. 37

species would  be crucial  during land                            Existing laws and regulations or
                                                                          A       standards
                development.                                                      meet the national or  international


                       Wildlife can be evaluated using direct
                                                                               Classification  of flora and fauna
                observation (e.g., sighting of birds, reptiles,                status  criteria  such  as
                                                                               conservation status of a species   B
                amphibians, and mammals) or indirectly                         (e.g., endemic, rare, endangered
                through animal signs like tracks, sounds and                              or threatened).

                calls, burrows, den and nests markings on soil                    Consistency  with the  policy  aims
                                                                                  (e.g.,  for  forestry,  agriculture,
                or vegetation, bones or carcass, droppings,               C       conservation, land use, and etc.).
                feathers and others. Another indirect data
                collection is from an interview of inhabitants
                                                                              Consultation with experts and
                (e.g., Orang Asli) within or adjacent to the                  acceptance  of relevant  decision
                                                                              makers community  or  general   D
                development area.                                                             public.


                       Primary faunal data collection could
                also be obtained by trappings (i.e., capture              It is important to understand how
                and release), such as mist nets (for birds and     habitat  alteration  by  clear-cutting and land
                bats), harp traps (for insectivorous bats), cage   conversion can affect wildlife in each project
                traps (for small mammals such as rodents,          location. Therefore, understanding how the
                shrews and squirrels), pit falls (for ground       entire ecosystem operates and how that relies
                animals like reptiles, amphibians, small           on one another is crucial.
                mammals, etc.), light traps (for nocturnal
                animals), camera trap (for large, medium and              Biodiversity should be evaluated by
                small mammals, birds, etc.) and others.            measuring the species diversity, food chain,
                                                                   and  any  specific  habitat  requirements  (e.g.,
                       A detailed methodology can be               nesting  trees  for  hornbills).  All  possible
                obtained from publications and consult with        negative impacts of habitat disturbance on
                PERHILITAN      and    academicians      from      biological diversity must be predicted and
                university. Fauna that is expected to be found     evaluated    accordingly    in   the    initial

                in the area could also be listed in the list.      development process.

                6.3 EVALUATION OF IMPACTS                          6.3.1 Evaluation of the Habitat


                                                                          The impact evaluation on flora is based
                       During    the    evaluation   process,      on the type of plant species present, their
                predicted impacts are compared with several        economic status (timber), medicinal value,
                standards or criteria and collected baseline       source of genetic resources and conservation
                data to evaluate their significance to the         status (i.e., rare, endemic, threatened or
                wildlife management or rescue plan. This           endangered).
                could tell one whether mitigation of the
                impact would be necessary to bring the                    Information on the pre-felling forest
                impacts to acceptable levels. The evaluation       inventory by the Forestry Department and
                of impacts can be based on the following:          consulting with local experts could help in

                                                                   defining the economic timber status as well as
                                                                   pharmaceutical, medicinal and other values.

                                                                                                                  33
                                                                                       GUIDANCE DOCUMENT ON  WILDLIFE  33
                                                                                            GUIDANCE DOCUMENT ON
                                                                                       IMPACT STUDY FOR IN ENVIRONMENTAL
                                                                                       WILDLIFE IMPACT STUDY FOR EIA
                                                                                                 IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)
   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42