If yes/no...what is the objective and basic approach, standards, instrument to include ecosystem services in the EIA, as the services has a potential impact and direct relation with human well being.
I do agree with Dr. Nohora Galvis, it SHOULD, but it actually does not because studies are quite shallow.
Yes ecosystem services must be accounted more especially if it concerns environmental sensitive area.
Hence, It is better taken care of during baseline line/ reconnaissance survey to enable an effective scoping process that will effect a dynamic EIA
Typically no, there is sometimes some overlap in terms of provisioning and regulating services provided, for example wetlands providing habitat for birds and flood mitigation. However, EIA doesn't touch cultural ecosystems services and the interactions between services provided and impacts on those due to a proposed project is not the explicit goal of EIA.
You might find this pub of interest that a colleague at WRI produced on how to integrate ES into EIA
http://www.wri.org/publication/weaving-ecosystem-services-into-impact-assessment
Good luck!
You might find this pub of interest that a colleague at WRI produced on how to integrate ES into EIA
http://www.wri.org/publication/weaving-ecosystem-services-into-impact-assessment
Good luck!
You might find this pub of interest that a colleague at WRI produced on how to integrate ES into EIA
http://www.wri.org/publication/weaving-ecosystem-services-into-impact-assessment
Good luck!
You might find this pub of interest that a colleague at WRI produced on how to integrate ES into EIA
http://www.wri.org/publication/weaving-ecosystem-services-into-impact-assessment
Good luck!
Well - it depends - it can, but as a matter of course most regimes don't require it (and anyway ecosystem service-based approaches don't usually address cultural/historic environment issues). Question needs to be asked what difference it makes - it may do in some contexts/sectors, but in other situations it is simply an alternative assessment framework which may or may not make much difference to the influence the assessment process has on decision-making. See Baker et al 2013 on my Research Gate page, and the UK NEA follow-up report (also on my RG page).
Well - it depends - it can, but as a matter of course most regimes don't require it (and anyway ecosystem service-based approaches don't usually address cultural/historic environment issues). Question needs to be asked what difference it makes - it may do in some contexts/sectors, but in other situations it is simply an alternative assessment framework which may or may not make much difference to the influence the assessment process has on decision-making. See Baker et al 2013 on my Research Gate page, and the UK NEA follow-up report (also on my RG page).
You might be interested in this training coming up in May/June in the UK - http://ecosystemsknowledge.net/about/events/training-environmental-assessment
From my experience as a practitioner that has done, commissioned and reviewed hundreds of EAs (EIA and SEA) my answer is that ES are rarely explicitly included. Implicitly some ES may be included in an EIA because it has been dealt with in the Land Use Zoning (LUZ) and/or SEA. In other words the legal and institutional context needs consideration. Are you referring to a setting where SEA and/or LUZ is not a statutory obligation?
Then the procedural why question may be. As a starter, the client of the EA is often not including ES in the Terms of References for the EA consultant. This can be a scale issue, especially for an EIA. Secondly, the ES beneficiary (legal or natural person) may not be able to claim/prove a direct (financial) interest, and therefore compensation in kind or cash, in the few weeks statutorily available to do so in an EA. Such interest in an ES will then be ignored in the EA process. Thirdly, I wonder whether in your reference institutional setting the consultation of all interested parties (including ES beneficiaries) is legislated or practised in the LUZ and/or SEA process. I have seen major shortcomings here in my practice as well.
It is necessary to establish total economic values of ecosystems like coral reefs. Otherwise, just with ecosystem services the economic impact is underestimated which favors unsustainable development with very low cost of shadow projects. Learn from our case studies FOLLOW https://www.facebook.com/ICRI.COLOMBIA/ y twitter @ArrecifesCoral y @ICRIcolombia Instagram ObservatorioArrecifesCoral Youtube ICRI COLOMBIA
Normally no. Impacts can be measured at different levels (species, communities, ecosystems, landscapes), and sometimes are difficult to link to ecosystem services. We carried out an exercise to link plant species with ecosystem services to measure the impact of climate change on them, and it proved to be rather difficult because of the lack of information on ecosystem services provided by species. See this publication: Article Ecosystem services show variable responses to future climate...
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