ISSUE48: FEBRUARY-APRIL 2007
network of research and training centres/programmes
Environmental
assessment training
focuses on Middle East coastal areas
UNU International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Zayed University, held a training workshop on Environmental Impact Assessment for Coastal and Marine Areas January 20-23 at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
This workshop was part of the UNU-INWEH project "Strategic Management of Marine Ecosystems in Nakheel Projects" which aims to ensure long-term sustainability of off-shore coastal developments through focused research and broad monitoring, building capacity in the Persian Gulf region by targeting the larger community of coastal-zone practitioners – scientists, NGOs and government policy makers.
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Artist's
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The theme of the first training Workshop, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), was based on specific needs identified in a region where ambitious and complex coastal development projects in several countries entail major land reclamation and changing the shape and length of the coast with the potential for major impacts on water movement patterns in coastal areas.
Offshore developments are relatively new and create novel, unpredictable ecosystems. They also create the challenge of developing effective and appropriate methodologies for conducting EIAs. It is important to ensure that the assessments are conducted on a timely basis, based on solid science and related to contemporary management approaches.
This workshop, a direct effort to address this regional need, attracted participants from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and UAE and included officials and administrators handling EIA, coastal planners, consultants, academics and other experts. It aimed at providing a solid introduction to the role of EIA in relation to environmental management for sustainable development, and effective processes and good practices in its application.
In that context, the workshop discussed the legal and institutional arrangements and capabilities that need to be in place for ensuring the quality of EIA is acceptable, and how the findings are integrated into project planning and decision-making. The training focused mostly on coastal environments and man-made near- and off-shore developments, and as far as possible used examples and methods of EIA application from coastal marine projects in Dubai and the Gulf region. Some international best practices and case studies were also presented.
The workshop included group exercises and aimed at getting participants to apply the different processes of EIA to a hypothetical case study. These interactive exercises provided useful information about the different EIA processes and application, as well as specific problems with EIAs, among the countries in the region.
Among
the major problems in applying EIA in this region: time constraints in
deployment of mega-projects; lack of communication and coordination
between the different parties/stakeholders involved; lack of public
consultation; changes in the design of the project after EIA process has
begun; lack of adequate legal and institutional arrangements to support
EIAs; and difficult access to baseline data or information.
The workshop evaluation summary showed that the training was found very useful and specific follow-up subjects for future events have been identified.
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