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Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) aims to
provide environmental input at an early stage to
inform decision-making. The main objective of an SEA
is to strategically assess the natural and social
environment of the study area with respect to
opportunities and constraints for development, and
in so doing determine the best land use option. The
SEA also determines measures to optimise
opportunities and minimise constraints, which are
then incorporated into plans or projects. The SEA’s
CES undertake are generally underpinned by a
sustainability framework,
CES provides the following key services when
undertaking an SEA:
Situation Assessment - Our staff are qualified to
undertake initial site assessments in the context of
an SEA to identify environmental factors, and
determine which are likely to represent
opportunities or constraints to the proposed land
use alternatives.
Specialist studies - Should specialist studies be
required for a Strategic Environmental Assessment,
CES, in conjunction with various associates, has
expertise in the majority of the biophysical, social
and economic fields that are normally required for
an SEA.
Interested and Affected Party Involvement - CES has
the in-house capacity to manage public and authority
involvement in the SEA process, including the
development of a vision and the identification of
goals, objectives and indicators.
Opportunities and constraints - Once opportunities
and constraints are identified, we will recommend
ways to optimise opportunities and minimise
constraints. This usually takes the form of a number
of specialist workshops.
EXPERTISE
A
Strategic Environmental Assessment was
commissioned by the Eastern Cape Government
for the Wavecrest area in the Centane
district, Wild Coast, to determine the
degree to which each of the conceptual
resource use options proposed for the area –
mining, conservation, agriculture/forestry,
and tourism – or any combination of the
same, met the criteria of ecological, social
and economic sustainability. The SEA
essentially determined the opportunities and
constraints presented by the environment for
the four land use options. The government
was then able to make an informed decision
on the best land use options for the area.
The goal of the SEA undertaken for the
creation of a Greater Addo Elephant National Park, Eastern Cape, was to incorporate
environmental and social aspects into the
higher level planning process. By dealing
with them early on in the process, it was
ensured that the environmental and social
aspects were considered in the Park’s
planning process. This enabled all
opportunities (or positive impacts)
presented by the environment to be enhanced
and the constraints (or negative impacts) to
be minimised. Although only one overriding
land use option was considered, i.e.
conservation, various options regarding
boundaries and institutional and management
strategies were considered.
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