The Baseline - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 362

TABLE 8.4
(Continued)

● Views of indigenous and local communities regarding their future and ways to bring about future aspirations;
● Traditional non-monetary systems of exchange such as hunting, barter, and other forms of trade, including labour exchange;
● Related economic and social relations, including cooperative assistance;
● Importance of gender roles and relations;
● Traditional responsibilities and concepts of equity and equality in society; and
● Traditional systems of sharing natural resources, including resources that have been hunted, collected, or harvested.

as potentially present. It helps if the biologists involved already have experience in simi-
lar environments as they will know what to expect and the most effective techniques for
establishing the presence or absence of particular species. It should be realized that failure
of i eld programmes to identify the presence of a particular species does not necessarily
prove that the species is absent.
When an endangered, vulnerable, threatened, or near-threatened species is located in
the i eld, it is necessary to further evaluate the status of the species so that the threat to the
species from project activities can be assessed ( Case 13.6 ). Where species in any of these
categories are found living within the potential footprint of the project, it is important to
obtain detailed distribution data, both locally and regionally, so that the potential reduc-
tion in population can be seen in perspective. It is also advantageous to understand specii c
requirements of each species, including food sources and breeding habits so that these can
subsequently be incorporated in rehabilitation programmes.

Documenting Traditional Knowledge
Consistent with Principle 11 of the ecosystem approach endorsed by the CBD, traditional
knowledge, innovations, and practices should be considered an important and integral
component of baseline studies, particularly the traditional knowledge, innovations, and
practices of those who have a long association with the particular area for which the mine
development is proposed. Traditional knowledge, innovations, and practices can be cross-
referenced by old photographs, newspaper articles, known historical events, archaeological
records, anthropological reports, and other records contained in archival collections and in
the academic literature.

Traditional knowledge,
innovations, and practices should
be considered an important and
integral component of baseline
studies.

Identifying Existing Natural Hazards and Project Constraints
Baseline surveys provide an understanding of site characteristics that have the potential
to affect the mine, or its design. Examples are intense rainfall, large upstream catchment
areas, and steep terrain which combine to impose signii cant constraints on the siting of
tailings ponds; lack of suitable on-site construction materials; unstable slopes hampering
the development of access roads; l ood-prone areas, areas prone to earthquake damage,
protected or sensitive areas, the presence of threatened or endangered species, or tradi-
tional land rights, or practices restricting access.
Some of these characteristics have the potential to be 'show stoppers' while others may be
managed, but at a cost. It is therefore most important that the key environmental issues
be identii ed at an early stage. Modifying a conceptual design requires relatively little effort
and money; changes at a later stage in mine design are difi cult and expensive.

Providing the Basis for Impact Evaluation
Impacts can only be assessed with the knowledge of present baseline conditions. All sources of
baseline information should be fully referenced and any gaps and uncertainties acknowledged,