Strategic Environmental Assessment and Ecosystem Services

1. Strategic Environmental Assessment and Ecosystem Services

2. What is this?

3. What is this?

4. What is this?

5. Ecosystem services Provisioning Goods produced or provided by ecosystems Cultural Non-material benefits obtained from ecosystems Regulating Benefits obtained from control of natural processes by ecosystems

6. What’s leading to ecosystem change? Direct drivers • Physical changes that can be identified and monitored Indirect drivers • Alter the level or rate of change of one or more direct drivers

7. Understand the link between ecosystems and development People impact nature Nature provides people benefits

9. North Site A Site B MA framework used for ecosystem assessment in Rwanda.

10. What is Strategic Environmental Assessment, SEA? • A planning tool; a process to improve strategic decision making • An analysis and assessment of environmental issues and their linkage with socio-economic issues • A means to dialogue on these issues • A mechanism for influence on institutions and governance

11. Benefits of SEA • Identify better development opportunities and win-win options • Prevent costly mistakes • Build public engagement in decision-making • Facilitate trans-boundary co-operation • Preventing conflicts • Do cheaper and more effective EIA

12. Why should an SEA address ecosystem services? • Include ecosystems as a form of capital • PPP that ignore services may be ineffective or have unintended consequences • Make PPP more holistic in their approach

13. Connecting points between ecosystem services and SEA • PPP activities affect direct drivers of change • The spatial focus of a PPP allows for identification of sensitivity to specific drivers of change • PPP affects indirect drivers of change such as economic and societal processes

14. Ecosystem services in SEA at policy level • What are the main ecosystem services that the country’s economy relies on? • How will the proposed policy change the indirect and direct drivers affecting these ecosystem services? • What capacity development is needed?

15. Key steps in SEA Inform, influence, and make recommendations Establish the SEA context Implement the SEA Monitor and evaluate

16. Establish the SEA context • Screen – identify ecosystem services depended upon or impacted • Set objectives – how can ecosystem service analysis inform the SEA? Should any ecosystem service targets be established up front? • Stakeholders – identify them and stay in continuous consultation

17. Implement the SEA • Scope in dialogue with stakeholders • Collect baseline data • Identify alternatives and their impacts • Incorporate options for mitigation and compensation • Review and assure quality of SEA • Report

18. Inform, influence and make recommendations for decision-making • Consider adopting policy tools • Identify and remove policies that degrade services • Decide whether to do a valuation of ecosystem services • Consider implementing payments for ecosystem services • Incorporate financial needs into the plan/program

19. Monitor and Evaluate • Monitor decisions taken on the plan/programme and its implementation • Evaluate the SEA and plan/ programme

20. Addressing the institutional dimension of SEA Assess and strengthen legislation; government agencies and institutions; incentive mechanisms; and mechanisms for accountability; and identify capacity development needs for integration of ecosystem services

21. Additional resources