Conservation plan for biodiversity likely to be impacted by Greenfield Jewar International Airport, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

India has emerged as the fastest-growing major economy and is expected to be one of the top three economic powers in the world over the next 10-15 years. India, like other developing countries, is confronted with the dilemma of securing functionality of different ecosystems rang ing from natural to urban habitats alongside the priorities for expanding the transportation infrastructure. Among these, airports are increasing in numbers to cater to the increased demand air travel for effective connectivity across the country. With the growing needs for air travel from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and visualizing its unsustainability in meeting high traffic demand in the future based on the projection, the Government of India has recently initiated a project to build a new airport called "Greenfield Airport" at Jewar, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). The proposed airport covering an area of 1334 ha is within New Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). This would facilitate air travel from the region's entire National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, 13 districts of the State of Haryana, eight districts of the State of Uttar Pradesh, and two districts of the State of Rajasthan (Anonymous 2019). With this development and very close proximity to the national capital, it is expected to have several large infrastructure development projects in the landscape. For judicious planning, NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) was created in 1985 to plan the development of the region and to enact harmonized policies for the control of land use and development of infrastructure in the region to avoid any haphazard development of the region as well as conservation of natural resources (Anonymous 1985). The NCRPB's Regional Plan 2021 aims to promote economic grow1h and develop the entire NCR as a region of global excellence http://ncrpb.nic.in/regionalplan2021 .html). On the same lines, the NCRPB has also envisagedincreasing the ambit and has the vision to expand and develop further, for which it is working on a new Regional Plan 2041, which is slated to be, completed soon (http://ncrpb.nic.in). For Greenfield Jewar International Airport (GJIA), Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) was appointed as a nodal agency by the Government of Uttar Pradesh state to execute the land acquisition process and other activities about airport development on behalf of the Directorate of Civil Aviation, Government of U.P. The YEIDA has steered a Techno-economic feasibility study by PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited (PwC) and an EIA study by Greenclndia Consulting Private Limited. Based on these studies, YEIDA moved the proposal to the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for obtaining "Environmental Clearance" and this was deliberated in the 42nd Meeting convened on 10-12 July 2019. To bridge the gaps between the development and conservation of natural resources, YEIDA was asked to conduct a study for the preparation of "Conservation Plan for Birds and Fauna" in consultation with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for further consideration. With the followup, a technical proposal titled "Conservation Plan for Biodiversity likely to be impacted by Greenfield Jewar International Airport, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh" was submitted to YEIDA forconsideration and it was accepted. Subsequently, a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed between WII and YEIDA for a study of Phase-Ion 30th August 2019 at shradun, India. The scope of the proposed project was as follows: a. Identify the key sources of impacts and the nature of impacts (direct and indirect, long term and short term and irreversible impacts if any associated with the airport) that would help guide the preventive, ameliorative, and restorative strategies to be adopted in the conservation planning. b. Identify the significant biodiversity values represented by rare, endangered and threatened (RET) floral and faunal species belonging to major taxa (hefpetofauna, birds, and mammals) within the zone of influence of the project. 1-0-1' G c. Assess the vulnerability of habitats and landscape features within a 10 km radius to impacts during different phases of the airport development and the likely implications. d. Prepare a conservation plan for rare, endangered, and threatened (RET) faunal species that is based on preventive and restorative measures for impact mitigation. e. Propose the Phase-II plan (Ten Years) for the "Post-Development Monitoring" for the status of RET species. Consequently, the Wildlife Institute of India mobilized a team of researchers, which started collating desktop-based information on the conservation importance of the taxa and habitats (terrestrial and wetlands) available in the landscape surrounding the airport. We also obtained crucial data, information, and shapefile of the proposed airport from YEIDA. participatory approaches in conservation have played a pivotal role during the last four decades to fulfill human and ecological/environmental goals. Realizing this, we organized a day "Consultation Workshop" with the stakeholders and knowledge partners at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Naida, Uttar Pradesh on 1st February 2020. Around 32 participants attended the workshop from Non-Governmental Organization, Nongovernmental Individuals, and officials from the Forest Department, YEIDA,MoEFCC, and others. We shared and discussed our envisaged framework of the planning process forthe preparation of the "Biodiversity Conservation Plan" with the participants. Based on the valuable suggestions received, we finalized our framework and approaches for the preparation conservation plan. Landscape conservation planning for biodiversity requires the integration of natural wildlife habitats at different scales so as consider the dispersal capacity of various taxa. Based on collated information and suggestion received during the workshop, we prepared the final framework of our approach for the collection of field data for the preparation of the "Conservation Plan for Biodiversity" for the GJIA landscape. We also reviewed the areas of conservation importance at the landscape level around the GJIA site. The landscape falls under Upper-Gangetic Plain and is a part of the semi-arid biogeographic zone. Because of these mixed habitat features, the landscape is endowed with rich biodiversity because of numerous wetlands created along the river Yamuna and the presence of various Protected Areas lmportant Bird Areas (PAs/I BAs) such as Sultan pur National Park, Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Surajpur Bird Sanctuary, and Dhanauri wetland, etc. All these habitats are rich in bird faunal diversity (160 to 300 species) and for migratory birds. Additionally, it has a mosaic of scrub habitats within the agriculture landscape and is the home for two key species of conservation importance besides others such as Indian antelope or Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) which is Schedule I species of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and Sarus Crane (Grus antigone). The infrastructure development plan envisaged in the landscape by YEIDA may cause rapid urbanization and land-use changes and may leave its ecological footprint. Thus, it requires the "Cumulative Impact Assessment" (CIA). Therefore. we also consider other areas which may be critical for the biodiversity conservation of this landscape.