MDT - Desktop
Mitigation Design Tool Jim Oakleaf, TNC - January 2016
Partnership
Mongolia Program & Development by Design
Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Green Development
Shareholders Special Funds
MDT - Goal and Objectives Goal: To assist MEGD in educating and supporting the Mongolian Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation while promoting mitigation based on conservation priorities in the Mongolian Gobi. Objectives: – Provide applications and data to properly and efficiently follow the EIA offset regulations and guide mitigation techniques (i.e. MDT). – Education and outreach through documentation and training of MDT
Mongolian Biodiversity Offset Measures 1. Define development footprint a. Map land disturbances *** b. Calculate total project impact area
2. 3. 4. 5.
MDT Applications
Define required offset area Estimate required offset costs Identify potential offset locations Conduct baseline biodiversity assessment at offset site 6. Conduct offset planning (i.e. establish biodiversity offset goals and objectives) 7. Implement monitoring and evaluation
***Avoidance measures should be examined while planning land disturbances
MDT Category
MDT - Desktop
MDT - Web
Computer Environment
PC
Internet
Software Requirements
ESRI ArcGIS / Spatial Analyst
Any mapping or design software & web browser
Tools
8
3
Advantages
• Easier to create and modify land • Combines multiple steps disturbances data • Not reliant on proprietary • Faster response software • Results presented automatically • Data and software maintenance • Internet connection not required not required
Users: EIA Consultants, Mining Companies, Oil Companies MEGD Regulators (National and Provincial), Community Groups, etc.
MDT - Desktop Custom ArcGIS Toolbox with 8 tools Supports ArcGIS 10.1.,10.2, & 10.3 w/Spatial Analyst Extension
Built using Python and ArcPy module • 11 python scripts • Roughly 1800 lines of code
MDT-Web
HTML CSS JavaScript
Custom Web Applications with three tools supporting MDT (i.e. uploading disturbance data, avoidance and offset analysis) Custom web Interface built with JavaScript and HTML/CSS • Uses ArcGIS API for JavaScript API for client-side mapping • Roughly 2400 lines of JavaScript code Uses opens source GIS data produced by any GIS applications (e.g. QGIS, gvSIG, MapWinGIS) Server-side technology using ArcGIS Server • Mongolia-wide mapping service • Geoprocessing services for avoidance and offset analysis Python code with roughly 1100 lines of code
Python
MDT - Core Functionality 1. Aids in mapping land disturbances 2. Facilitates avoiding environmentally sensitive and costly offset areas 3. Calculates a cumulative project impact area 4. Produces an offset cost report 5. Identifies potential offset locations
Mapping Land Disturbances Tools: • Produce template for GIS dataset for mapping disturbance features • Check finished GIS disturbance dataset for errors
Objectives: • Increase efficiencies for mapping and attributing land disturbances • Follow feature type standards established for land disturbances • Linear Features: transmission lines, pipelines, roads, railroads, etc. • Area Features: human settlements, facilities, mining pit, piles, ponds, parking, etc.
Output: • Spatial data which can be used for MDT avoidance analysis or offset calculations
Avoidance Tools: • Lease comparison • Land disturbance comparison
Objectives: • Identify potential development restrictions (i.e. national or local protected areas) • When possible, guide development away from important conservation areas (i.e. critical habitat, protected areas, important ecosystems, undisturbed lands) • Lower potential offset costs for companies
Output:
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• Spatial data with attributes to help guide avoidance for lease or land disturbances Land Disturbances
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Impact Areas
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Impact Area Attributes Maximum impact distance (meters) Environment Sensitivity of Disturbance based on offset factors (high, medium, low)
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Average offset ratio (12 -0.08) Ordinal ranking of potential offset costs per disturbance (1 - # of individual disturbances) Protection Overlap (0 - none, 1 – Local Only, 2 – National; 3 – Both) Forested Areas (0-none, 1-overlaps) Wetlands (0-none, 1-overlaps)
Cumulative Project Impact Tool: • Calculate Project Impact Area
Objectives: • Identify intensity of impact for each land disturbance based on assigned Mongolia EIA parameters (i.e. impact decay function, maximum impact distance, impact weight) • Combine individual impacts to create cumulative impact area Land Disturbances
Output: • Spatial data identifying cumulative project impact with three major categories of intensity (high, medium, low)
Cumulative Project Impact Area
Offset Cost Report Tool: • Calculate Offset Cost Report
Objectives: • Calculate offset units based on four location offset factors (i.e. ecosystem occurrence, habitat type, site condition, landscape position) and impact duration factors. • Offset factors established by Mongolia EIA regulation • Offset units: offset requirements in hectares based on established offset ratios • Produce offset cost report • Yearly offset costs (i.e. total offset units x $5/ha) and cost associated with each factor • Location and type of ecosystems impacted
Output: • HTML Offset Cost Report
Cumulative Project Impact Area
Potential Offset Locations Tool: • Identify Potential Offset Sites
Objectives: • Identify ecosystems impacted within ERA, Aimag, and Soum boundaries. • Match ecosystems impacted with national protected areas having equal or greater amount (i.e. area) of ecosystems at a national, Aimag, and Soum level.
Output: • Identifies potential offset sites with proximity to impact • NPAs or LPAs within ERA, Aimag, and Soum with ecosystems ha > impacted area Cumulative Project Impact Area
ERA
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Soum
Dornogovi
Ulaanbadrax
Xo'vsgol
Impact Location
MDT - GIS Protocols and Procedures Document • Dynamic project document • Definitions and Descriptions • Data Requirements and Standards • GIS Methodologies • Tool Descriptions • Tutorials • ArcGIS and QGIS
MDT - Website
http://s3.amazonaws.com/DevByDesign-Web/MonOffsetDesign/index.html
Goals: • Provide project background and information • Keep users up-to-date with documents, data, and applications • Track users for notifications of updates and changes • Obtain feedback from those using MDT
MDT - Training MDT Protocols and Procedures Training (Sept 2015) Goals: 1. Provide background and knowledge for all procedures and data used by MDT 2. Learn how to applying MDT Desktop for offsets 3. Feedback from participants Participants: • 27 individuals from government and non-government organization • 17 individuals from mining and consultant companies
MDT Desktop and Web Training (March 2016) Goal: Learn how to apply both applications for offsets Participants: TBD
Future Decisions for MEGD • Maintenance of Data & Software – Updates provided by TNC for 2016, next years?
• Certify MDT applications as acceptable way to derive offset costs
Partnership
Mongolia Program & Development by Design
Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Green Development
Shareholders Special Funds
MDT - Goal and Objectives Goal: To assist MEGD in educating and supporting the Mongolian Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation while promoting mitigation based on conservation priorities in the Mongolian Gobi. Objectives: – Provide applications and data to properly and efficiently follow the EIA offset regulations and guide mitigation techniques (i.e. MDT). – Education and outreach through documentation and training of MDT
Mongolian Biodiversity Offset Measures 1. Define development footprint a. Map land disturbances *** b. Calculate total project impact area
2. 3. 4. 5.
MDT Applications
Define required offset area Estimate required offset costs Identify potential offset locations Conduct baseline biodiversity assessment at offset site 6. Conduct offset planning (i.e. establish biodiversity offset goals and objectives) 7. Implement monitoring and evaluation
***Avoidance measures should be examined while planning land disturbances
MDT Category
MDT - Desktop
MDT - Web
Computer Environment
PC
Internet
Software Requirements
ESRI ArcGIS / Spatial Analyst
Any mapping or design software & web browser
Tools
8
3
Advantages
• Easier to create and modify land • Combines multiple steps disturbances data • Not reliant on proprietary • Faster response software • Results presented automatically • Data and software maintenance • Internet connection not required not required
Users: EIA Consultants, Mining Companies, Oil Companies MEGD Regulators (National and Provincial), Community Groups, etc.
MDT - Desktop Custom ArcGIS Toolbox with 8 tools Supports ArcGIS 10.1.,10.2, & 10.3 w/Spatial Analyst Extension
Built using Python and ArcPy module • 11 python scripts • Roughly 1800 lines of code
MDT-Web
HTML CSS JavaScript
Custom Web Applications with three tools supporting MDT (i.e. uploading disturbance data, avoidance and offset analysis) Custom web Interface built with JavaScript and HTML/CSS • Uses ArcGIS API for JavaScript API for client-side mapping • Roughly 2400 lines of JavaScript code Uses opens source GIS data produced by any GIS applications (e.g. QGIS, gvSIG, MapWinGIS) Server-side technology using ArcGIS Server • Mongolia-wide mapping service • Geoprocessing services for avoidance and offset analysis Python code with roughly 1100 lines of code
Python
MDT - Core Functionality 1. Aids in mapping land disturbances 2. Facilitates avoiding environmentally sensitive and costly offset areas 3. Calculates a cumulative project impact area 4. Produces an offset cost report 5. Identifies potential offset locations
Mapping Land Disturbances Tools: • Produce template for GIS dataset for mapping disturbance features • Check finished GIS disturbance dataset for errors
Objectives: • Increase efficiencies for mapping and attributing land disturbances • Follow feature type standards established for land disturbances • Linear Features: transmission lines, pipelines, roads, railroads, etc. • Area Features: human settlements, facilities, mining pit, piles, ponds, parking, etc.
Output: • Spatial data which can be used for MDT avoidance analysis or offset calculations
Avoidance Tools: • Lease comparison • Land disturbance comparison
Objectives: • Identify potential development restrictions (i.e. national or local protected areas) • When possible, guide development away from important conservation areas (i.e. critical habitat, protected areas, important ecosystems, undisturbed lands) • Lower potential offset costs for companies
Output:
!
!
!
• Spatial data with attributes to help guide avoidance for lease or land disturbances Land Disturbances
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Impact Areas
!
!
!
!
!
Impact Area Attributes Maximum impact distance (meters) Environment Sensitivity of Disturbance based on offset factors (high, medium, low)
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
! ! !
!
Average offset ratio (12 -0.08) Ordinal ranking of potential offset costs per disturbance (1 - # of individual disturbances) Protection Overlap (0 - none, 1 – Local Only, 2 – National; 3 – Both) Forested Areas (0-none, 1-overlaps) Wetlands (0-none, 1-overlaps)
Cumulative Project Impact Tool: • Calculate Project Impact Area
Objectives: • Identify intensity of impact for each land disturbance based on assigned Mongolia EIA parameters (i.e. impact decay function, maximum impact distance, impact weight) • Combine individual impacts to create cumulative impact area Land Disturbances
Output: • Spatial data identifying cumulative project impact with three major categories of intensity (high, medium, low)
Cumulative Project Impact Area
Offset Cost Report Tool: • Calculate Offset Cost Report
Objectives: • Calculate offset units based on four location offset factors (i.e. ecosystem occurrence, habitat type, site condition, landscape position) and impact duration factors. • Offset factors established by Mongolia EIA regulation • Offset units: offset requirements in hectares based on established offset ratios • Produce offset cost report • Yearly offset costs (i.e. total offset units x $5/ha) and cost associated with each factor • Location and type of ecosystems impacted
Output: • HTML Offset Cost Report
Cumulative Project Impact Area
Potential Offset Locations Tool: • Identify Potential Offset Sites
Objectives: • Identify ecosystems impacted within ERA, Aimag, and Soum boundaries. • Match ecosystems impacted with national protected areas having equal or greater amount (i.e. area) of ecosystems at a national, Aimag, and Soum level.
Output: • Identifies potential offset sites with proximity to impact • NPAs or LPAs within ERA, Aimag, and Soum with ecosystems ha > impacted area Cumulative Project Impact Area
ERA
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!
Aimag
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Soum
Dornogovi
Ulaanbadrax
Xo'vsgol
Impact Location
MDT - GIS Protocols and Procedures Document • Dynamic project document • Definitions and Descriptions • Data Requirements and Standards • GIS Methodologies • Tool Descriptions • Tutorials • ArcGIS and QGIS
MDT - Website
http://s3.amazonaws.com/DevByDesign-Web/MonOffsetDesign/index.html
Goals: • Provide project background and information • Keep users up-to-date with documents, data, and applications • Track users for notifications of updates and changes • Obtain feedback from those using MDT
MDT - Training MDT Protocols and Procedures Training (Sept 2015) Goals: 1. Provide background and knowledge for all procedures and data used by MDT 2. Learn how to applying MDT Desktop for offsets 3. Feedback from participants Participants: • 27 individuals from government and non-government organization • 17 individuals from mining and consultant companies
MDT Desktop and Web Training (March 2016) Goal: Learn how to apply both applications for offsets Participants: TBD
Future Decisions for MEGD • Maintenance of Data & Software – Updates provided by TNC for 2016, next years?
• Certify MDT applications as acceptable way to derive offset costs
