TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING SUSTAINABILITY REPORT FY 2023 COMMUNITIES THE PLANET THE WORKPLACE STAGE 2: Biodiversity Risk Assessment The risk and impact identification process crystallizing of the to-be way forward. Accordingly, additional These include: helps to determine biodiversity risks and biodiversity management practices and measures necessary to 1) Ecosystems most likely to be impacted by daily operations, resulting impacts from a proposed project achieve our NNL goal are determined, designed and subsequently, in adverse impacts to proximate communities, construction and operations aspect, within a deployed. 2) Ecosystems on which our operations depend. Further, an ecosystem 10 km radius of the site. This part of the risk and impact identification process aligns with • Where operations are likely to adversely impact ecosystems, a dependency and impact assessment may be conducted in order to regulatory requirements like EIA Notification review of priority ecosystem impact is undertaken. identify critical ecosystem services in the area. 2006, and international standard requirements like Environmental and Social Impacts and dependencies identified in the Biodiversity Risk Assessment Impact Assessments, Biodiversity Management Plans, Critical Habitat Studies, Potential impacts on nature include loss of to name the key evaluation exercises. habitat and/or species and degradation of Biodiversity Risks Mitigation Hierarchy natural ecosystems, including the impact of pollution. Use of natural capital as • Loss of modified habitats due to • Avoid • Offset Further, at this stage, Key Biodiversity Areas construction of infrastructure (high) - No discharge policy to prevent - Expansion of vegetative cover represented by natural resources like water, (KBA) and Protected Areas (PA) located pollution of water bodies in barren/degraded lands within a 50 km radius of the site are soil, minerals is the other aspect of our • Disturbance due to dust and - Due diligence to avoid/restrict - Restoration of wildlife habitats screened using IBAT and secondary impact. Today there is heightened awareness pollution from the movement of regarding companies’ use of natural capital vehicles (high) procurement from Critical and corridors literature. Stakeholder consultations are also and the corporate world is moving towards Habitats - Restoration of coastal extensively held to understand the localized • Habitat degradation due to fugitive - SOPs to prevent introduction of ecosystems including wetlands natural capital accounting as a basis for emissions from the plant (high) invasive species during and mangroves point of view and any distinctive project cost evaluation. At Vedanta, we • Habitat degradation due to air movement of vehicles and goods socio-economic, geographic or climactic recognize our use of natural resources as a pollution and vehicular movement • Transform dynamics that may have been overlooked in key dependency, which gets reflected in (medium) the standardized studies. these risk assessments. • Minimize - Conservation of endangered - EMP to minimize air, noise, water, fauna • Introduction of invasive species from vehicular movement (medium) soil pollution - Conservation centres for Post-evaluation outcomes and actions The biodiversity risk assessment exercise - Afforestation and greenbelt endangered plants prioritised the sites on the basis of risk and • Faunal injury/fatality due to plantation to reduce disturbance - Wildlife rescue support After the evaluation metrics furnish their movement of vehicles (medium) classifies them as: High, Medium and Low. - Regulation of and defining routes - Support in prevention of forest results, sites can be clearly classified on the This assigned priority rating then determines • Loss of animal movement corridor for vehicular movements fires (medium) basis of the biodiversity risk they pose. the nature of Biodiversity Management Plan - Improved monitoring of habitats - Livelihood improvement and According to such classifications, the (BMP) to be prepared for the relevant site. engagement with local • Possible loss of endangered plant conservation actions to be taken are Once the plan is prepared, it is implemented species (low) • Restore community determined. and helps to manage and mitigate our impact - Soil & moisture conservation - Public awareness campaigns on biodiversity against a variety of • Freshwater pollution from accidental activities - Capacity building for forest run-offs (low) • Where sites are in close proximity to parameters. - Plantation of native and personnel biodiversity rich areas, as has been • Loss of natural/wildlife habitats (low) endangered species - Bamboo fodder development identified above, three further evaluation A consolidated list of impact-based • Loss of migratory and congregatory - Removal of invasive species actions are taken. The current status of biodiversity risks and examples of actions to wetlands for birds (low) - Introduction of aquatic be taken as per the mitigation hierarchy are vegetation biodiversity is assessed, along with the • Withdrawal of water resources from - Restoration of water bodies interaction of biodiversity with operations depicted below: water stressed areas (low) at the project site. Further, the biodiversity conservation approach currently being followed is also evaluated. We completed the Baseline Biodiversity Survey this year for all our sites. The baseline establishes a core set of biodiversity assessment criteria or This leads to a pragmatic understanding of indicators, which form the basis of site-specific impact analysis and guides the shaping and definition of mitigation and management measures. the as-is conditions, helping in the 78