Monitoring of environmental impact assessments in Africa

Communicating the Findings and Recommendations of Environmental Impact Assessment (Eia) Reports in Africa: Some Observations

“…Holgate (1984) goes further by saying that the EIA process is often more limited by poor communication between planners and ecologists than by deficiencies in ecological knowledge. EIA findings and recommendations have generally not been effectively communicated in Africa, for example, because of the low level of public involvement and participation in the EIA process (Kakonge, 1999) or because less attention has been paid to the role of the public in the process in general.…”

“…Holgate (1984) goes further by saying that the EIA process is often more limited by poor communication between planners and ecologists than by deficiencies in ecological knowledge. EIA findings and recommendations have generally not been effectively communicated in Africa, for example, because of the low level of public involvement and participation in the EIA process (Kakonge, 1999) or because less attention has been paid to the role of the public in the process in general.Given the current investment being made in the EIA process, this problem of communication urgently needs attention by all concerned governments, the private sector and the public. This short paper highlights the importance of effectively communicating the findings and recommendations of EIA reports, identifies impediments to their effective communication, and offers strategies to improve the EIA process.…”

Environmental impact assessment in sub-Saharan Africa: the Gambian experience

“…The interests of the three groups were primarily focused on economics and the employment that would be created, while apparently ignoring environmental implications. This is to be expected, since many people in subSaharan Africa are poor and can afford only to look at immediate economic gains, as opposed to longterm environmental benefits (Kakonge, 1999).…”

“…Moreover, the number of projects and their related activities discourage the development of such expertise in the country. Various studies in subSaharan Africa have commented on the lack of local expertise, which is needed to produce quality EIAs (Kakonge, 1999;Grossen and Raphael, 2000).…”

Water scarcity and related environmental problems in parts of sub-Saharan Africa: the role of the transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment Convention

“…For the Lesotho Highlands water project, which involves a catchment area shared by Lesotho and South Africa, although environmental studies were done, they were fragmented and were not, as claimed by some, co-ordinated into a conventional environmental impact assessment (EIA) (Kakonge, 1994).…”