question 8 map attached here.
To assess the potential site for the new ski resort and find possibilities to develop the ski resort, and Environmental Impact Assessment was conducted. The site contains about 30% of area that is above 555m of elevation.
To analyze the site, data of site elevation, roads, rivers, ungulate habitats, old growth forests and red listed ecosystems were collected. Each layer of protected areas was clipped by the site boundary, and was compared as a percentage of the total project area. Although the sum of all project areas is quite large, many of them overlap and thus only 52.6% of the site is bounded by protected areas. Within the 7 red-listed ecosystems, the site contains 6 of them. This is selected by building up a query for each ecosystem combination using the data provided by the environmental resource management cooperation’s data.
Therefore, the site is quite suitable of development because it can dedicate about half of its site for development. It will also have a high diversity of animals and plants, and the large area of lower slopes will make skiing a more enjoyable sport for the most.
However, when developing the site, the major issue that people need to be concerned is the red-listed ecosystem. Within the 7 endangered systems, 6 of them are all within the project site, and they take up in total about 26% of the site, which is almost 1/3 of the development. Therefore, construction must be utterly careful with the boundaries of these ecosystem, and potential tourists needs to be educated and notified so that they will not accidentally step into these places.
Personally however, I do not believe in what I stand for because the project area already has a high biodiversity by its own. Conducting any developments in the area will only bring harmful impacts to the area. However, the Environmental Impact Assessment aims to minimize the impact.
