Environmental impact assessment study : harbour development works at Landhoo, N. Atoll, Maldives

Abstract

This Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is to fulfill the regulatory requirement under the environmental preservation act of Maldives for the ongoing harbour development at Landhoo, N. Atoll. N. Landhoo harbour development initiated during early 2008, but the works were halted by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Water because EIA report for the works wasn’t submitted and that fact that individual from N. Landhoo complained to MEEW regarding filling of Marsh land adjacent to the harbour area. At present almost 75% of excavation works are completed. According to the MCPI works are halted because 25ft of land inside vegetation line of the island has to be incorporated to the harbour. Therefore MCPI wants to go ahead with this component of the work after completion of EIA report. At present an area of 16,600m2 is already reclaimed using the dredged material removed from previous excavation works, from this area approximately 5,500m2 is marsh land. A stock pile of approximately 2000m3 of sediment is piled at the northern side of the harbour. Estimated volume of dredged material from the remaining excavation works are estimated to be approximately 5000m3 . The major output of the proposed project is a 300 ft by 200 ft harbour facility on the western side of the island of Landhoo. The harbour basin will have a depth of -3m MSL. Entrance to the harbour will be located on the northern side of the harbour facing north western direction. The entrance channel into the harbour is 75m long and 25m wide. These are the standard dimensions of island harbours under various government policies and strategies to provide safe harbours for inhabited islands. As part of public consultation process for this project, relevant stakeholders from the Landhoo community and the public and private sectors were consulted. The Landhoo community met on three occasions, twice prior to the EIA process on an unspecified date and on 12th February 2008. The community meeting held later with representative of the La Mer Group was on 26th April 2008. The consultative process was based on meetings and discussions with community members. Representatives of La Mer met with members of the Island Development Committee, the Harbour Committee and members of the Landhoo general public to discuss the need for the EIA, what would be done in the EIA and for the community to air their issues and questions on the extent of the harbour works with regard to the community’s needs. Noonu Atoll is the latter part of a massive atoll that encompasses Haa Alif, Haa Dhaal, Shaviyani and Noonu Atolls, divided so for administrative purposes. Landhoo is one of the eastern most islands in Noonu Atoll. Located at 05° 52' 53" N and 73° 27' 58" E, Landhoo is found between the islands of Maalhendhoo to the north and Maafaru to its south. Laandhoo is an island separate from all other islands, surrounded by its own reef, as is typical for the northern atolls of the Maldives. Maalhendhoo Kandu is to the island’s north and Landhoo Kandu is to the island’s south. The capital of Noonu Atoll is Manadhoo, 13km to the south of Landhoo. Study of the wind directions for individual months show that the winds from the 2nd quadrant (between E and S) are mainly confined to the months of November, December, January, February and March. The strongest winds from a southwesterly direction mainly occur during the month of December. The cumulative frequency of occurrence of winds at speeds greater than 7m/s from a southeasterly quadrant is just 1.06%. The total percentage of occurrence of winds from southeasterly quadrant sums up to 9.6%. Results of wave analysis indicated that during the period for which wave data were collected the averaged significant wave height was 0.39m with an averaged significant wave period of 3.32 sec. The highest significant wave height estimated for this period was 0.56m that has a wave period of 3.32sec. The maximum wave heights indicated that the highest wave height recorded for this period was 0.99m that had a wave period of 3.0sec. Wave data evidently indicated that the location at which Landhoo harbour is been built is a highly exposed location and therefore the harbour protection structures (breakwaters) would have to take this factor into consideration. It is important to note that the most significant impact associated with the project would be impact on the marine environment from sedimentation. Dredging and excavation often carry heavy load of sediments increasing sediment load in the water column causing discoloration (due to suspended sediments) of the of the impact area for a prolonged period. The proposed development will have direct impact on the benthos in all excavated areas. Environmental impacts associated with the proposed project are considered minor to moderate. The significant environmental components that are likely to be affected are the coral community established on the reef flat and changes to littoral drift and near-shore coastal hydrodynamics. Impact on the coral community from sedimentation as a result of excavation is inevitable. Mitigation measures were provided in the report for impacts that were categorized minor to moderate. Impact mitigation measures and monitoring is carried out to compare predicted and actual impacts occurring from project activities to determine the efficiency of the mitigation measures. The environmental monitoring proposed here is to determine the effectiveness of the mitigation measures and long term change to the benthic community (especially coral community) where the current baseline information was collected. In addition to this additional monitoring station would be established at the reef slope (channel entrance) to determine the changes to this habitat by sediment deposition transported through the reef access channel. With due consideration to main environmental components identified and the magnitude of impacts on these components from the proposed developments, the consultant concludes that the project components and designs are feasible and appropriate mitigation measures are given to correct and minimize unfavourable environmental consequences. Furthermore the public and community consultation responses were in favour of the project due to the socio-economic benefits.