Attachment K - NAVSTARota_ProtectedSpeciesProtocol_FINAL.pdf

F I N A L

Protected Species Protocol for the Common Chameleon

Prepared for

U.S. NAVY

NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND EUROPE, AFRICA, AND

SOUTHWEST ASIA

Date: 2 March 2016 – Final Rev.2

Contract Number N33191-14-D-1009

Task Order 0008

9191 South Jamaica Street Englewood CO 80112-5946 www.ch2m.com

Parque Tecnológico de Óbidos, Edifícios Centrais, Rua da Criatividade, 2510-216 Óbidos, Portugal www.biota.pt http://www.ch2m.com/

PROTECTED SPECIES PROTOCOL

COMMON CHAMELEON FINAL MARCH 2016

1. PURPOSE:

In accordance with the 2014 Environmental Final Governing Standards (FGS) for Spain, Junta de Andalusia regulatory requirements and other Host Nation (HN) laws, the purpose of this protocol is to provide guidelines for avoiding or minimizing impacts on the common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) population and habitats during as a result of design and construction projects on Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota.

2. APPLICABILITY:

This Protected Species Protocol (PSP) applies to proposed design and construction projects within suitable common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) habitat and is integrated with the NAVSTA Installation Natural Resources Management Plan (NRMP).

3. RESPONSIBLE PARTIES: Construction team, planners, custodial workers, contractors, Public Works Department (PWD) personnel

4. EFFECTIVE DATE: TBD

5. DEFINITIONS:

Chapter 13 Natural Resources & Endangered Species of the 2014 FGS for Spain includes the following definitions:

C13.2.13. Protected Species. Any species of flora and fauna listed or designated by Spain, because continued existence of the species is, or is likely to be, threatened, and is therefore subject to special protection from destruction or adverse modification of associated habitat.

Protected species include both those at risk of extinction and those vulnerable of becoming extinct if adverse impacts are not mitigated.

C13.2.17. Spanish Protected Species. Those species included in the Spanish List of Special

Protection Wildlife Species and the Catalogue of Endangered Species

C13.2.19. Threatened and Endangered Species. Any species of fauna or flora, listed in

Tables 13.1, “Threatened and Endangered Fauna or included in the European or Spanish lists of specially protected and endangered species.

6. REGULATORY DRIVERS:

The approach of this protocol is protection and enhancement of chameleon habitat in addition to minimizing and avoiding direct impacts to the species and its habitat as the result of design and construction activities. This protocol supports the following Spanish FGS criteria:

C13.3.1. Protection of Species & Habitats

C13.3.1.1. Installations that have land and water areas shall take reasonable steps to protect and enhance known endangered or threatened species and Spanish protected species and their habitats.

C13.3.4. Installations with natural resources management plans shall, after coordination with the

Spanish Base Commander or similar appropriate Spanish authorities, and if financially and otherwise practical, and in such a way that there is no net loss of mission capability:

C13.3.4.1. Conduct a survey to determine the presence of any threatened or endangered species or Spanish-protected species and habitats, or support Spanish surveys; and

C13.3.4.2. Implement natural resources management plans.

C13.3.5. The Spanish Base Commander, or if there is no Spanish Base Commander, the U.S.

Ambassador will be notified (via the Component chain of command, who shall also notify the

Environmental Executive Agent) of the discovery of any endangered or threatened species and

Spanish protected species not previously known to be present on the installation.

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NAVSTA ROTA PROTECTED SPECIES PROTOCOL

C13.3.8. Installations shall place emphasis on the maintenance and protection of habitats favorable to the reproduction and survival of Spanish protected species and indigenous flora and fauna.

7. COMMON CHAMELEON OVERVIEW:

The common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) is considered an endangered species on the

Spanish redlist as well as on the Andalucia regional redlist.

The common chameleon (see Photograph 1) preferred habitat includes areas of coastal open pinewood with undergrowth of Retama monosperma or areas dominated by Retama.The species is also present in small agriculture areas(a). On NAVSTA Rota the common chameleon is known to occur in beach front areas (e.g. Admiral beach, Salado river mouth), at the fuel farm, west of the golf course, housing and in pinewood areas containing Rentama. Enclosure 1 shows the location of potentially suitable chameleon habitat on NAVSTA Rota.

Photograph 1 - Common chameleon

The common chameleon most sensitive periods are the mating season, between July and mid-

September, and the egg laying season, between September and November (j) . The egg laying season is when most road kills occur because that is the period when females disperse to find a place to lay the eggs.

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8. PRE-CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS

The PWD, Environmental Division, Natural Resources Manager (NRM) should be involved in all phases of project planning and implementation to ensure avoidance and minimization measures are appropriate and properly coordinated. Early coordination is recommended to avoid project delays.

The following activities must be initiated before intrusive design or construction work begins in any potentially suitable chameleon habitat (as per Enclosure 1):

Submit a plan for anticipated vegetation removal and site restoration prior to removal of vegetation. This plan should quantify the amount and type of vegetation to be removed and how it will be restored following intrusive design or construction activities. This plan will be submitted for government approval.

Using a Government approved common chameleon specialist, conduct a survey of all potentially suitable habitat in the project area.

If common chameleons are present in the project area they must be relocated by a chameleon specialist that will adhere to an established removal and relocation protocol(b). Chameleons should:

o Be handled with gloves;

o Transported in disinfected carriers ;

o Marked with temporary suitable paint;

o Relocated during the same night they got caught, in a nearby area with suitable habitat;

o Removal activities should be conducted during 2 consecutive nights (c);

Once all chameleon individuals have been removed under specialized supervision, apply the following landscaping techniques:

o Cut bushes at ground level;

o Leave cut bushes on the ground on the project site for 15 days;

o Collect and maintain a superficial layer of sandy soil (about 50 cm) to be used in landscaping and renaturalization of the construction area(d).

Once and the vegetation has been removed, fence the construction area with a temporary metallic net knitted with a grid of 1 cm maximium to prevent chameleon from reentering the construction site. The fence should be between 30 to 40 cm high and buried into the ground at least 20 cm. [Note this may require additional approval if conducted in areas identified as culturally sensitive]. The fence must remain in place until the end of the construction works(c);

If the construction area intersects a chameleon habitat area, a vegetation corridor should be maintained to the maximum extent practicableto enable the chameleons movements. The corridor should be composed of the native vegetation already present and have a minimum width of 5 m(b).

9. REQUIREMENTS DURING CONSTRUCTION:

During construction work in any potentially suitable chameleon habitat (as per Enclosure 1) the following procedures must be implemented:

Ensure proper site drainage, install protection to prevent flooding of the chameleon breeding areas if construction activities decrease the level of the adjacent ground plots(e);

No contruction or design activities , can interfere with the normal course of any river, or affect river bed, therefore construction and design activities should be avoided in Salado

Riversurrounding area (f);

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No interventions can be done in the last 100 m area of any river or stream mouth for a length

5 times the length of the river bed containing water(g);

To the maximum extent practicable, avoid sand extraction in the suitable areas of chameleon habitat. Chameleon eggs (layed between September and November) remain in the soil for 10 to 11 months. In order to not affect the eggs initial soil movements of the construction site should be done between mid-September and beginning of October(c). Soil movements in this period do not allow chameleons to lay eggs in the construction area. Further soil movements can then normally continue; Any request for deviations from this requirement will be requested through the installation NRM and are expected to require Junta de Andalusia approval.

For construction work close to the coastline, maintain a 100 m sea buffer zone(g) to the maximum extent practicable to preserve suitable common chameleon habitats;

When performing landscaping and vegetation control, restrict vegetation cutting to the designated construction areas(f);

Machinery and vehicle washing and maintenance shall only be performed in authorized areas with appropriate pollution prevention measures in place, including oil water seperators (refer to FGS Chapter 4 Wastewater), in order to avoid soil, water, beach or sea contamination(h);

Lights on the outside of the buildings must not be at more than 4.5 m high and in areas with trees, lights should be interspersed within the vegetated area (e.g. not grouped); and lights power ratings should not exceed 7 lux(h).

10. POSTCONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS:

In any potentially suitable chameleon habitat (as per Enclosure 1) these procedures must be implemented at the end of the construction activities:

All relocated chameleons (all marked individuals) are required to be monitored for a period of

7 to 8 years(c) in order to confirm the animals survival and adaptation to the new area. This monitoring requirement will be addressed by the PWD Environmental Division; however, it may require short term monitoring during the construction phase. Remove all debris and leftover materials from the construction site and the surrounding areas(h);

Use the collected superficial layer of sandy soil (about 50 cm) for restoration of the construction area(d);

Implement approved site restoration plan and ensure that the NRM is involved in the following activities;

o Renaturalization of the temporary infrastructure areas and construction border areas by unpacking the ground and planting Retama and dispersed pines (Pinus pinea)(d);

o Control invasive plant species in the renaturalized areas used during construction, to store equipment or material(i);

o Replanting/restoring the construction site using recommended/approved native or non invasive vegetation species (refer to NAVSTA Rota Landscaping Guidelines for list of such species). Never use invasive plant species in site restoration or landscaping(i).

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11. REFERENCES:

a) Cuadrado, M. (2009). Camaleón común – Chamaeleo chamaeleon. En: Enciclopedia Virtual de los

Vertebrados Españoles. Salvador, A., Marco, A. (Eds.). Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid;

b) Junta de Andalucía. Programa de Conservación y Recuperación del Camaleón Común (no date).

Junta de Andalucia website:

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/site/portalweb/menuitem.7e1cf46ddf59bb227a9ebe20

5510e1ca/?vgnextoid=296c682c9542a110VgnVCM1000000624e50aRCRD&vgnextchannel=a1bff70

3e8207310VgnVCM1000001325e50aRCRD. Accessed in February 2016.

c) Consejería de Medio Ambiente. Plan de Actuaciones para la Conservación del Camaleón Común en Andalucía – protocolos, directrices de actuación, y modelos de autorización. (no date).

d) Ministerio de Defensa & Junta de Andalucía. Convenio de Colaboración entre al Ministerio de

Defensa y la Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía para el Desarrollo de

Programas de Actuaciones para la Conservacion del Camaléon en el Acuartelamiento de Camposoto y la Base Naval de Rota (2010).

e) Red de Reservas Permanentes de Camaleón en el Municipio de Rota (no date)

f) Consejería de Obras Públicas y Transportes. Plan Especial de Protección del Medio Físico y

Catálogo de la Provincia de Cádiz (2007)

g) Real Decreto 876/2014, de 10 de octubre, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento General de Costas

h) Normas Urbanísticas del Ayuntamento de Rota

i) Ley 42/2007, de 13 de diciembre, del Patrimonio Natural y de la Biodiversidad. Boletín Oficial del

Estado núm. 299/2007.

j) NAVFAC, 2011. Cultural and Natural Resources Management User’s Guide Naval Station Rota, Spain. Volume 1. NAVSTA Rota.

Other references:

FGS Spain, Chapter 13

Gutiérrez, M.C., los Santos, M.R. (1990). El Camaléon Comun (Chameleo chameleon) en

Andalucía: distribuicíon y conservacíon. Consejería de Cultura y Medio Ambiente.

Consejería de Vivienda y Ordenación del Territorio. (2008) Resolución de 26 de agosto de

2006, de la Delegación Provincial de Cádiz sobre subvenciones a Ayuntamentos acogidos a

Municipios de Actuacción Autonómica en materia de Rehabilitación de Viviendas. Boletín

Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía (BOJA) número 185 de 17/09/2008, pp 40-48.

Protected Species Protocol for the Common Chameleon NAVSTA Rota, Spain

1 Enclosure 1: Development Constraints of NAVSTA Rota, Spain.