Evaluation of environmental impacts of large scale physical development in central Galilee: Role of experts and policy makers

This article reports on the content and process used to evaluate environmental impacts caused by the development of 50 new settlements in the central Galilee region in northern Israel between 1978 and 1988. Some 60 different environmental and developmental factors and their interrelationships were identified. Selected physical changes that were defined as impacts were later evaluated. The evaluation method was based on intensive use of interviews with resource scientists and decision makers as experts. The data from interviews were used as the basis for factors identification, impact screening, and their rating. Experts used three types of criteria in the latter process: intensity of impact, the potential for its mitigation and compatibility with existing natural resource conservation, and environmental quality protection policy. Researchers concluded that reliance on experts with broad local experience eliminated the need for a more structured and detailed assessment method. The case study shows that experts provided creditable and reliable findings. They substituted the need for long periods of observation and largescale and costly data gathering, analysis, and evaluation.     

Multiple-resource modeling as a tool for conservation: Its applicability in Mexico

The current Mexican environmental law provides the legal basis for comprehensive land-use planning. Under the law, development of natural ecosystems must combine goals, policies, and practices towards the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of biological diversity. Thus, ecosystem manipulation must be able to counter fragmentation of natural ecosystems and isolation of natural reserves, while providing for human needs. Assessment of the potential of natural ecosystems and management impacts are required. Multiple-resource simulation is an assessment and land-use planning tool that permits managers and decision makers to comply with the law, providing a flexible, user-oriented system that can meet the needs of managers, conservationists, and researchers. A multiple-resource model and an example of how it can be applied to meet planning needs is presented for discussion.     

Cumulative environmental impacts and integrated coastal management: the case of Xiamen, China

This paper examines the assessment of cumulative environmental impacts and the implementation of integrated coastal management within the harbour of Xiamen, China, an urban region in which the coastal zone is under increasing pressure as a result of very rapid economic growth. The first stage of analysis incorporates components of a cumulative effects assessment, including (a) identification of sources of environmental impacts, notably industrial expansion, port development, shipping, waste disposal, aquaculture and coastal construction, (b) selection of a set of valued ecosystem components, focusing on circulation and siltation, water quality, sediment, the benthic community, and mangrove forests, and (c) use of a set of key indicators to examine cumulative impacts arising from the aggregate of human activities. In the second stage of analysis, the paper describes and assesses the development of an institutional framework for integrated coastal management in Xiamen, one that combines policy and planning (including legislative and enforcement mechanisms) with scientific and monitoring mechanisms (including an innovative 'marine functional zoning' system). The paper concludes that the integrated coastal management framework in Xiamen has met all relevant requirements for 'integration' as laid out in the literature, and has explicitly incorporated consideration of cumulative impacts within its management and monitoring processes.     

THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF WESTERN WATER DEVELOPMENT1

ABSTRACT: Social scientists were included in the planning and design for an integrated, trans-basin water resource project. Within this complex project, a socioeconomic impact assessment (SIA) concentrated on identifying the social, political, and economic issues and potential impacts inherent in developing a city's water rights. Before the SIA began, some of the development alternatives had already generated widespread hostility and organized opposition from communities within the watershed. The SIA involved residents of affected communities in the study design and project planning. The study found a number of components that constituted the concerns, beliefs, and expectations about perceived, potential impacts that might result from the different alternatives. In most cases these issues constituted threats to valued environmental resources, valued community resources, the social environment, the economic base, and a secure future. The social science component was a key factor in the ultimate decision to pursue a particular alternative which was sensitive to the social and political issues, minimized environmental and socioeconomic impacts, and ultimately had support among the communities potentially affected. The experience from this case study suggests that the approach used can be applied successfully in the planning of other water development projects and result in cooperation from the wide range of interest groups that often present costly obstacles to such projects.     

SUITABILITY ANALYSIS FOR SELECTION OF PIPELINE ROUTES1

ABSTRACT: A brief review of environmental assessment methods is presented as an introduction to a study of environmental management problems in a coastal area of southern Louisiana. The assessment method used in the study is called suitability analysis and involves the use of matrices. The matrix approach is simply a convenient method for organizing all factors representing environmental concerns in a region. The matrices proved to be very useful in defining the present state of an environmental regime and in maintaining an inventory of regional features and potential impacts. The method is described in detail and illustrated by evaluating the potential impacts of a major pipeline construction job in the area. Of major concern is the potential impact on the water resources of the region. Disruption to the natural drainage could be detremental, and affect the suitability of available water for a given use. Limitations of the method are discussed and potential areas for improvement and research are noted. Coupled with an economic assessment, the suitability analysis method should prove beneficial for selecting development sites for industries, residential areas, and other construction activities.     

Multi-criteria analysis for improving strategic environmental assessment of water programmes. A case study in semi-arid region of Brazil

Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) is a family of decision-making tools that can be used in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) procedures to ensure that environmental, social and economic aspects are integrated into the design of human development strategies and planning, in order to increase the contribution of the environment and natural resources to poverty reduction. The aim of this paper is to highlight the contribution of a particular multi-criteria technique, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), in two stages of the SEA procedure applied to water programmes in developing countries: the comparison of alternatives and monitoring. This proposal was validated through its application to a case study in Brazilian semi-arid region. The objective was to select and subsequently monitor the most appropriate programme for safe water availability. On the basis of the SEA results, a project was identified and implemented with successful results. In terms of comparisons of alternatives, AHP meets the requirements of human development programme assessment, including the importance of simplicity, a multidisciplinary and flexible approach, and a focus on the beneficiaries' concerns. With respect to monitoring, the study shows that AHP contributes to SEA by identifying the most appropriate indicators, in order to control the impacts of a project.     

土地利用总体规划的环境影响评价指标体系研究

科学合理的土地利用总体规划环境影响评价指标体系既可提高规划的科学性,又可为新一轮规划的修编提供科学依据。运用系统分析法、归纳演绎法、专家咨询法等方法研究建立土地利用总体规划的环境影响评价指标体系,初步将其构建为目标层、准则层和指标层3个层次,包括社会指标、环境指标及资源指标。     

A multicriteria model for planning agricultural regions within a context of groundwater rational management

Current international research focuses on topics like sustainable development, regional planning, environmental decision making and implementation, biodiversity conservation plus a number of other relevant issues, especially at times of economic crisis as today. Economic growth and environmental protection can go hand in hand, provided that decision makers develop and use tools and insights targeting in the implementation of successful and robust long term policies. This paper was developed in the framework of a European research project and implements a Multicriteria Mathematical Programming model that optimises the sustainable management of agricultural regions taking in account the available resources (land, labour, capital) and environmental parameters (agrochemicals, water consumption). The model achieves the optimum farm plan in the area combining different criteria to a utility function under a set of constraints and the spatial integration of the vulnerability maps of the regions into the model enables the regional authorities to design policies for the optimal agricultural development and the groundwater protection from the agricultural land uses. Furthermore, the model is used to simulate different scenarios and policies by the local stakeholders, due to changes on different social, economic and environmental parameters. In this way the decision makers can achieve alternative farm plans and agricultural land uses as well as to estimate economic, social and environmental impacts of different policies. The model has been applied to an agricultural region in Northern Greece and proved to be a valuable tool in the implementation of environmental policies and actions, especially in agricultural regions in a delicate balance as the study area.     

Environmental planning and management for the Assarawat highland region of south-western Saudi Arabia: the traditional versus the professional approach

The environmental planning and management of the Assarawat highlands of south-western Saudi Arabia are currently confronted by difficult problems. Deforestation is caused either by natural or intentional forces. Natural factors are limited to lightning fire and drought, while intentional forces include vandalism caused by the burning or cutting of preserved forests. Such vandalism continues despite the tremendous efforts of afforestation and preservation by several government agencies, especially the Ministry of Agriculture and Water, the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development and by the municipalities of the cities and towns in the region. For centuries, local inhabitants of the Assarawat highlands have successfully established environmental planning and management strategies which balanced the settlements' growth and natural resource uses according to Islamic laws, and the tribal self-government of each settlement and tribal region. Following the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, the land management system started to change from tribal-based, where every tribe used to manage its local territory, to State authority. The creation of the State witnessed the unification of various fragmented tribes of Saudi Arabia into one government. This meant that environmental planning and management moved from local/regional towards a national control. This investigation proposes that the local/regional planning and management practised by the tribes could be viably utilized today. As in the past, the implementation of these practices could protect the natural environment of the locality and region and regularize their exploitation rationally, as long as vernacular people implement them. Today environmental planning and management need to be based on strategies of local requirements that enable the indigenous people to plan and manage the use of the resources.     

Assessment of risk to aquatic biota from elevated salinity -- a case study from the Hunter River, Australia

A linear engineering project--i.e. a pipeline--has a potential long- and short-term impact on the environment and on the inhabitants therein. We must find better, less expensive, and less time-consuming ways to obtain information on the environment and on any modifications resulting from anthropic activity. We need scientifically sound, rapid and affordable assessment and monitoring methods. Construction companies, industries and the regulating government organisms lack the resources needed to conduct long-term basic studies of the environment. Thus there is a need to make the necessary adjustments and improvements in the environmental data considered useful for this development project. More effective and less costly methods are generally needed. We characterized the landscape of the study area, situated in the center and north-east of Argentina. Little is known of the ecology of this region and substantial research is required in order to develop sustainable uses and, at the same time, to develop methods for reducing impacts, both primary and secondary, resulting from anthropic activity in this area. Furthermore, we made an assessment of the environmental impact of the planned linear project, applying an ad hoc impact index, and we analyzed the different alternatives for a corridor, each one of these involving different sections of the territory. Among the alternative corridors considered, this study locates the most suitable ones in accordance with a selection criterion based on different environmental and conservation aspects. We selected the corridor that we considered to be the most compatible--i.e. with the least potential environmental impact--for the possible construction and operation of the linear project. This information, along with suitable measures for mitigating possible impacts, should be the basis of an environmental management plan for the design process and location of the project. We pointed out the objectivity and efficiency of this methodological approach, along with the possibility of integrating the information in order to allow for the application thereof in this type of study.     

Environment and energy resources — A UK experience

Summary Exploitation of energy resources need not imply irreperable damage to our physical environment. Unfortunately lack of involvement at the policy planning stage hinders significant improvements despite the enthusiastic but fragmented endeavours of interested parties.Evaluation of alternative strategies must keep pace with prospecting and engineering to achieve real influence upon the ultimate location, scale and form of development.Fruitful examination of policy alternatives is hindered by the competition between energy industries in the UK perpetuated by the apparent lack of a national energy strategy.The fast increasing bulk of environmental guidelines and proposed European legislation will not of itself prevent the significant environmental impact of energy exploitation.There is as yet no legislation in the United Kingdom requiring a developer to submit an environmental impact assessment with a planning application. However, many recent project proposals have been accompanied by such, either voluntarily or at the request of the local planning authority. The quality of such submissions ranges from the superficial to substantial, but few demonstrate evidence of environmental influence on policy formulation, alternative site selection or development characteristics.Recent experience in the UK has achieved significant success in the early introduction of physical planning and environmental criteria during the exploration of Western Europe's largest recoverable deep coal reserves.Environmental influence was achieved through close collaboration between client and consultants. Early discussion with local authorities and other agencies established during coal field exploration provided the basis for ongoing consultation during the four-year study period. Publication of consultants' findings and submission of planning proposals culminated in a public inquiry providing opportunity for public involvement over 84 days of project examination.David Price is an Architect and Town Planner in private practice with extensive experience in urban and regional planning and environmental evaluation in the UK and abroad. He is also a member of Land Planning Group, a multi-disciplined design and planning consultancy.     

Sustainable construction--the role of environmental assessment tools

Construction has been accused of causing environmental problems ranging from excessive consumption of global resources both in terms of construction and building operation to the pollution of the surrounding environment, and research on green building design and using building materials to minimise environmental impact is already underway. However, relying on the design of a project to achieve the goal of sustainable development, or to minimise impacts through appropriate management on site, is not sufficient to handle the current problem. The aim for sustainability assessment goes even further than at the design stage of a project to consider its importance at an early stage, before any detailed design or even before a commitment is made to go ahead with a development. However, little or no concern has been given to the importance of selecting more environmentally friendly designs during the project appraisal stage; the stage when environmental matters are best incorporated. The main objectives of this paper are to examine the development, role and limitations of current environmental building assessment methods in ascertaining building sustainability used in different countries which leads to discuss the concept of developing a. sustainability model for project appraisal based on a multi-dimensional approach, that will allow alternatives to be ranked is discussed in detail in the paper.     

MEASURING IMPACTS OF WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENTS ON THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT1

The parameters and the measurement procedures described in this paper are seen as being part of the first stage in development of the human environment assessment process. Additional parameters need to be identified, and methods of measuring impacts reflected by the parameters must be developed and refined. Considerations of the human environment and those elements of the natural environment that are of importance to people must be included as an integral part of the environmental impact assessment process. Therefore, there is a need for continuing to identify parameters of the human environment and to develop methods of measuring impacts so that these considerations will become a well-integrated part of the environmental impact assessment process.     

城市环境总体规划中的布局问题研究——以北京市丰台区为例

城市环境总体规划是对城市中长期环境管理的综合安排,是环境保护基础性的规划,其核心问题在于规模、结构和布局,即从城市环境、资源与生态约束角度为社会经济发展规划、城市总体规划与土地利用规划提出限制(环境、资源与生态红线),从环境承载力与发展生态适宜性分区角度为城市发展规划提出发展适度规模、结构与布局。在城市"多规融合"的实践过程中,城市环境总体规划,作为政府综合决策的重要支撑之一,可以为其他的规划编制提供约束条件以及土地供给能力测算值,使得各规划间能够相互支撑、相互融合,因此有必要先行。本文以北京市丰台区环境总体规划为例,从布局角度出发,基于区域土地资源供给能力对丰台区进行土地生态适宜性评价,并得到土地生态适宜性区划图,从而提出丰台区城市总体规划与土地利用规划的限制条件,为城市环境总体规划先行提供科学依据。     

Measurement and assessment of carrying capacity of the environment in Ningbo, China

Carrying Capacity of the Environment (CCE) provides a useful measure of the sustainable development of a region. Approaches that use integrated assessment instead of measurement can lead to misinterpretation of sustainable development because of confusion between Environmental Stress (ES) indexes and CCE indexes, and the selection of over-simple linear plus models. The present paper proposes a comprehensive measurement system for CCE which comprises models of natural resources capacity, environmental assimilative capacity, ecosystem services capacity, and society supporting capacity. The corresponding measurable indexes are designed to assess CCE using a carrying capacity surplus ratio model and a vector of surplus ratio of carrying capacity model. The former aims at direct comparison of ES and CCE based on the values of basic indexes, and the latter uses a Euclidean vector to assess CCE states. The measurement and assessment approaches are applicable to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and environmental planning and management. A case study is presented for Ningbo, China, whereby all the basic indexes of ECC are measured and the CCE states assessed for 2005 and 2010.     

The Indus Irrigation System,Natural Resources,and Community Occupational Quality in the Delta Region of Pakistan

This study examines the impact of an elaborated irrigation system on the natural resources and society in the deltaic part of the Indus River in Pakistan. Time series information was collected to analyze the ecological and natural resource dynamics, and their impacts on the structure and quality of the occupations of the people in the Indus delta during pre- and post-irrigation system development periods. The information was collected through literature review, reconnaissance, structured questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, and interviews. The findings revealed that the expansion of the irrigation system and the resulting reduction in the downstream flow had their differential impacts on the various segments of downstream ecology and society. Some of the resources, for example the agricultural mudflats have been adversely affected due to the accelerated seawater intrusion that severely impinged on the paddy farms. On the other natural resources like mangroves, the impacts had been both negative and positive. On one hand, the diversity of the mangroves species had deteriorated while on other hand, the mangroves have benefited from such development because of the alleviated pressure of camel grazing as a result of the occupational change on the part of the camel herders. Furthermore, changes in the hydrological regimes had forced the paddy farmers and camel herders to switch to fishing as an alternative source of employment and income. Considering that currently about 87% people are already engaged primarily in marine fishery, this scenario is threatening the sustainability of the fishery resources as well as the livelihoods of all, the traditional and converted fishermen. The findings of the study are therefore meant to advocate the different treatments which should be accorded to the various segments of the downstream ecology and society during the planning of any remedial irrigation projects in order to mitigate the adverse impacts of the previous irrigation development strategies and of any water resources development to be carried out in the future.     

Landscape ecological assessment: a tool for integrating biodiversity issues in strategic environmental assessment and planning

To achieve a sustainable development, impacts on biodiversity of urbanisation, new infrastructure projects and other land use changes must be considered on landscape and regional scales. This requires that important decisions are made after a systematic evaluation of environmental impacts. Landscape ecology can provide a conceptual framework for the assessment of consequences of long-term development processes like urbanisation on biodiversity components, and for evaluating and visualising the impacts of alternative planning scenarios. The aim of this paper was to develop methods for integrating biodiversity issues in planning and strategic environmental assessment in an urbanising environment, on landscape and regional levels. In order to test developed methods, a case study was conducted in the region of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and the study area embraced the city centre, suburbs and peri-urban areas. Focal species were tested as indicators of habitat quality, quantity and connectivity in the landscape. Predictive modelling of habitat distribution in geographic information systems involved the modelling of focal species occurrences based on empirical data, incorporated in a landscape ecological decision support system. When habitat models were retrieved, they were applied on future planning scenarios in order to predict and assess the impacts on focal species. The scenario involving a diffuse exploitation pattern had the greatest negative impacts on the habitat networks of focal species. The scenarios with concentrated exploitation also had negative impacts, although they were possible to mitigate quite easily. The predictions of the impacts on habitats networks of focal species made it possible to quantify, integrate and visualise the effects of urbanisation scenarios on aspects of biodiversity on a landscape level.     

System Dynamics to Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Under Water Supply Uncertainty1

Abstract: Water supply uncertainty continues to threaten the reliability of regional water resources in the western United States. Climate variability and water dispute potentials induce water managers to develop proactive adaptive management strategies to mitigate future hydroclimate impacts. The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer in the state of Idaho is also facing these challenges in the sense that population growth and economic development strongly depend on reliable water resources from underground storage. Drought and subsequent water conflict often drive scientific research and political agendas because water resources availability and aquifer management for a sustainable rural economy are of great interest. In this study, a system dynamics approach is applied to address dynamically complex problems with management of the aquifer and associated surface‐water and groundwater interactions. Recharge and discharge dynamics within the aquifer system are coded in an environmental modeling framework to identify long‐term behavior of aquifer responses to uncertain future hydrological variability. The research shows that the system dynamics approach is a promising modeling tool to develop sustainable water resources planning and management in a collaborative decision‐making framework and also to provide useful insights and alternative opportunities for operational management, policy support, and participatory strategic planning to mitigate future hydroclimate impacts in human dimensions.