The inclusion of biodiversity in environmental impact assessment: Policy-related progress limited by gaps and semantic confusion

Bigard, Charlotte; Pioch, Sylvain; Thompson, John D.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.05.057

Cited by 97 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…That is, there is a widespread failure to meaningfully consider cumulative effects. As Sinclair et al (, p. 192) conclude, “at a time when incisive assessment of cumulative effects is desperately needed to arrest the ongoing decline of … ecosystems at large, CEA practice is woefully deficient or simply absent from contemporary decision‐making on economic development.” Other research concludes that cumulative effects on biodiversity are poorly addressed in Canada (Dibo, Noble, & Sánchez, , p. 930) and elsewhere (Bigard, Pioch, & Thompson, ; Khera & Kumar, ; Mandelik, Dayan, & Feitelson, ). This study finds that even threatened, charismatic species like caribou are no exception.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is not a new observation. There is a cottage industry of EA criticisms going back at least three decades or more when Hilborn and Walters () called EA a form of “helicopter ecology.” Recommended fixes include meaningful cumulative effects assessments, especially for biodiversity (e.g., Bigard et al, ). Why have these criticisms not translated into meaningful cumulative effects assessment, under governments of any political stripe?…”

Section: Conclusion: From Caribou To Conservation Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extirpation despite regulation? Environmental assessment and caribou

Collard

Dempsey

Holmberg

2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Many caribou populations in Canada face extirpation despite dozens of provincial and federal legislative instruments designed to protect them. How are industrial developments that impact caribou justified and permitted despite governments' commitments to caribou protection? Toward an answer, this paper scrutinizes an approval process for major projects in Canada: environmental assessment (EA). We identify 65 EAs for major projects with potentially significant adverse impacts for caribou—all projects but one were approved. The results show that most projects were approved on the basis of proposed mitigation measures that promise to render adverse effects “insignificant”; yet mitigation effectiveness is largely unknown. Further, several projects were approved even though mitigation measures were insufficient, citing public or national interest. Finally, some projects' approval rested in part on scientific claims that the project area is already degraded or absent of caribou. Based on these findings, EA is failing caribou, acting as a means by which the state licenses major developments with potentially significant adverse effects for caribou, with a pretense of protection. The failure stems in part from a broader tension within the state that manifests in EA: a tension between the state's roles promoting economic growth and protecting against this growth's negative effects. Recognition of this tension needs to be more central to conservation biology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclusion: From Caribou To Conservation Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Extirpation despite regulation? Environmental assessment and caribou

Collard

Dempsey

Holmberg

2020

Conservat Sci and Prac

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“…Or, pour ne pas dériver vers un droit à détruire, la séquence ERC est censée être appliquée dans son ensemble, c'est-à-dire en commençant par l'évitement (McKenney et Kiesecker, 2010). De plus, dans 13 cas sur 21, les mesures de réduction ne sont pas suivies de compensation, ce qui sous-entend que l'impact résiduel n'est pas significatif, or la significativité des impacts est très rarement définie dans les études d'impact (Bigard et al, 2017a). Cela pose donc la question de la légitimation de la prise en compte de la biodiversité via l'application de ce triptyque.…”

Section: Historique Et Définitions Françaises Des éTapesunclassified

De la théorie à la pratique de la séquence Éviter-Réduire-Compenser (ERC) : éviter ou légitimer la perte de biodiversité ?

Bigard¹,

Regnery²,

Pioch³

et al. 2018

developpementdurable

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“…Many different ecological equivalence assessment methods are used worldwide in EIA to ensure a no net loss of biodiversity (Bezombes et al, 2017), but impacts at the landscape scale are lacking to make these methods fully satisfactory (Bigard et al, 2017;Kujala et al, 2015). Ensuring functional connectivity within landscapes has been identified as a key component for biodiversity conservation (Newbold et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental impact assessment of development projects improved by merging species distribution and habitat connectivity modelling

Tarabon

Bergès

Dutoit

et al. 2019

Journal of Environmental Management

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Francis Isselin-Nondedeu. Environmental impact assessment of development projects improved by merging species distribution and habitat connectivity modelling. Journal of Environmental Management, Elsevier, 2019, 241, pp. AbstractEnvironmental impact assessment (EIA) is performed to limit potential impacts of development projects on species and ecosystem functions. However, the methods related to EIA actually pay little attention to the landscape-scale effects of development projects on biodiversity. In this study we proposed a methodological framework to more properly address the landscape-scale impacts of a new stadium project in Lyon (France) on two representative mammal species exemplary for the endemic fauna, the red squirrel and the Eurasian badger. Our approach combined species distribution model using Maxent and landscape functional connectivity model using Graphab at two spatial scales to assess habitat connectivity before and after development project implementation. The development project had a negative impact on landscape connectivity: overall habitat connectivity (PC index) decreased by -6.8% and -1.8% and the number of graph components increased by +60.0% and +17.6% for the red squirrel and the European badger respectively, because some links that formerly connected habitat patches were cut by the development project. Changes affecting landscape structure and composition emphasized the need to implement appropriate avoidance and reduction measures. Our methodology provides a useful tool both for EIA studies at each step of the way to support decision-making in landscape conservation planning. The method could be also developed in the design phase to compare the effectiveness of different avoidance or mitigation measures and resize them if necessary to maximize habitat connectivity.

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The inclusion of biodiversity in environmental impact assessment: Policy-related progress limited by gaps and semantic confusion

Cited by 97 publications

References 48 publications

Extirpation despite regulation? Environmental assessment and caribou

Extirpation despite regulation? Environmental assessment and caribou

De la théorie à la pratique de la séquence Éviter-Réduire-Compenser (ERC) : éviter ou légitimer la perte de biodiversité ?

Environmental impact assessment of development projects improved by merging species distribution and habitat connectivity modelling

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