How the Ambatovy Project is Applying the BBOP Principles
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BBOP Pilot Project Case Study – Ambatovy Project
corridor rehabilitation and the proposed Ankerana offset, is being designed for long-term success following its
implementation. Four activities will support the long-term outcomes:
Strong community involvement throughout the planning, designing and implementation phases with the
development of complementary sustainable activities in the surrounding agricultural matrix and in the
multiple use area of the forests surrounding the critical habitats (core areas). Appropriate joint activities are
being identified as the result of ongoing stakeholder interaction and data gathering.
Development of financial strategies, mechanisms, and commitments as the operational phase of the
Project begins (2011), based on the analysis of stakeholder needs and the Project’s predicted economic
operating environment. In light of the ongoing financial crisis and the resulting economic uncertainties,
ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT
strategies will play a key role in securing long-term financing for the Ambatovy
offset programme.
Identification of long-term governmental legal and political commitment to protect the conservation sites in
the mine region and the proposed offset site at Ankerana. A high level of commitment is expected as
elements of the mine area and the proposed offset site have been designed to fall under the future
Malagasy protected area system (SAPM), which itself is a part of the Presidential Durban commitment and
which is expected to attract significant outside funding as a result of a global concern for biodiversity.
Determining the institutional arrangements for managing the offset sites into the long-term. It has not yet
been decided how the Ankerana site will be managed, with all options remaining open, i.e., managed by
governmental institutions, by an NGO, by the community, by the company or a combination of any of the
foregoing. The on-site conservation zones forests will be managed by the Project, the
FOREST
CONNECTIVITY
programme will likely be community-based, while the Ramsar site has a defined
management structure.
9. Transparency:
The Ambatovy Project’s intention to offset its residual impacts on biodiversity is a commitment developed in
the ESIA, which has undergone thorough public consultation, hearings and a public information process.
Consequently, the Project’s strategic environmental and social commitments are in the public domain and its
offset activities have been, and are being, scrutinised by the Malagasy environmental authorities, regional and
international NGOs, the local communities and the lender banks. Since becoming a BBOP Pilot Project,
Ambatovy has committed to ensuring that design (and ultimately implementation) activities are completed in a
transparent fashion. Transparency allows the Project to ensure stakeholders are well informed and able to
offer insightful feedback that contributes to the optimisation of conservation outcomes.
10. Science and traditional knowledge:
In order to evaluate residual impacts on biodiversity and quantify the required offset, the Project has applied
established and developing scientific methodologies. In parallel, traditional knowledge is being utilised (for
example, species identification in time and space, identification of species’ utilisation by humans (medicinal)
and animals (fruit trees), and land use patterns (plant-substrate relationships)).
