Sustainability

Biodiversity Action Plan

Since 2011, KPO have been developing and implementing the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), which determines the core activities of the Company for conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems in the region in accordance with the KPO Sustainable Development Charter.

The BAP is a part of a multifaceted work that enables to look at the problem of biodiversity conservation from the point of view of assessing the possible negative impact of production activities, the existing legal framework, the current state of the territory, its sensitivity and ability to recover, as well as the priority of conservation of species and territories (preservation of primary ecosystems) for the future, and to find a balance between «take» and «give» by all stakeholders, etc.

The basis for the BAP is the IPIECA document «Instruction on Preparing Biodiversity Action Plans for the Oil and Gas Industry», which proposes the structure of the Plan and the recommendations for its development.

The Biodiversity Action Plan includes the following tasks:

determination of the legal requirements, regulation, planning and taking into account the opinion of the third parties;
analysis of monitoring/baseline survey findings and existing information for the determination of the current state of the environment;
identification of priority ecosystems, habitats and species for protection;
evaluation of impacts and identification of the risks to biodiversity at the stages of the project implementation;
environmental monitoring and control on the project territory;
preparation of the list of planned biodiversity conservation actions;
reporting, stakeholders engagement and assessment of the effectiveness of environmental protection measures.

As part of the scope of work under the Plan, since 2012, such types of research have been carried out as monitoring of fauna and vegetation.

Fauna monitoring is carried out every three years and involves following 17 walking routes and study of 5 sites. The assessment of the condition of individual animals’ habitats as well as the size and qualitative composition of various systematic groups of animals are identified by visual surveys. The habitats, behaviour and direction of species’ movement, breeding grounds are determined in accordance with the Guidance on Keeping Records of Water Birds (dated 1971) and Guidance on Keeping Records of Mammals (dated 1987).

Flora monitoring is carried out on 27 sites in comparison with previous years. The research includes the following: geo-botanical description: abundance, phenophase, vitality and level of anthropogenic transformation. Besides, vegetation samples are periodically taken for the content of chlorides, sulphates, sulphur, nitrates and petroleum products. Frequency — every 3 years.

It should be noted that all types of hunting and fishing are prohibited within the KOGCF as reflected in the internal «Area of Enhanced Controls in Karachaganak Field» Procedure.

2011-2023 Biodiversity Action Plan implementation

2011-2023 Biodiversity Action Plan implementation

Since 2011, KPO have been implementing activities in compliance with the Biodiversity Action Plan as shown in the table below.

Stage	Year	Research studies
1	2011	Development of the Biodiversity Action Plan for 2012-2013.
	2012	Fauna monitoring within the KOGCF including the recording of rare fauna species.
	2013	Flora monitoring within the KOGCF effect area by four impact factors, specifically environmental emissions, physical disturbance, water abstraction and grazing; review of satellite images for three periods to identify changes in ecosystems; mapping of the riverine ecosystems of the KOGCF water bodies — the Berezovka River, the Konchubai Gully.
2	2014	Development of the KPO Biodiversity Action Plan for 2015-2016.
	2015	Monitoring of fauna including: mapping of air emissions and contaminants concentration in the soil; research of wildlife species diversity (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles) within the KOGCF with the consideration of the KPO operations impact; research of significant species of animals including beavers in the area of the Konchubai Gully and the Berezovka River; database update of species inhabiting the KOGCF area based on the results of fauna monitoring.
	2016	Monitoring of flora including: vegetation monitoring in respect of air emissions, physical disturbance, grazing, effects of the water abstraction; further monitoring of distribution of the rare Russian Fritillary that grows in the area of the Konchubai Gully and the Berezovka River.
3	2017	Development of the Biodiversity Action Plan for 2018-2020 in accordance with the Guide to developing biodiversity action plans for the oil and gas sector published by IPIECA/IOGP.
	2018	Continued monitoring of fauna in order to obtain the data on the dynamics of the animals state; continued recording of significant animal species, including beavers on the territory of the Konchubai Gully and the Berezovka River; ichthyofauna research study in the KOGCF water bodies.
	2019	Continued monitoring of flora, including recording of rare significant species; monitoring the dynamics of riverine vegetation for the purpose of integrated assessment of biodiversity and the general state of ecosystems in the territory.
	2020	Research on the invertebrates’ species diversity (monitoring of entomofauna) within the KOGCF; development of the Biodiversity Action Plan for the KOGCF covering the period of 2021-2023.
4	2021	Monitoring of fauna including the key and rare species: determine whether there are changes in ecosystems caused by pollutant emissions as a result of the KOGCF operations, in comparison with the previous studies.
	2022	Monitoring of flora including the key and rare species: determine whether there are changes in ecosystems caused by pollutant emissions as a result of the KOGCF operations, in comparison with the previous studies.
	2023	Deciphering remote sensing data for various years with the compilation of a map of ecosystems in the geological information system (GIS); monitoring of changes in the spatial distribution of steppe areas within the KOGCF SPZ and adjacent territories; creation of the biodiversity geological information system to obtain operational data on changes in the environment and biodiversity; production of a film on the biodiversity within the KOGCF.

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