SANBI – Draft Ecosystem Environmental Assessment Guideline

 

Dear Stakeholder, 

Regulation 16(1)(v) of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014 (EIA Regulations) provides that an applicant for Environmental Authorisation is required to submit a report generated by the Screening Tool as part of its application (https://screening.environment.gov.za). In addition, on the 20th of March 2020, the Minister gazetted a set of Protocols for the assessment and minimum report content requirements of environmental impacts for various environmental themes.

SANBI and its partners, have developed a Draft Ecosystem Environmental Assessment Guideline which provides background and context to the minimum assessment and reporting criteria contained within Terrestrial and Aquatic Biodiversity Protocols which were gazetted on the 20th of March 2020 (Government Notice number 320). 

The Draft Ecosystem Environmental Assessment Guideline is available for public comment until the 19th of July 2021. Please submit comments to the following email address: warrick@resilience-advice.co.za. The document is available via the following link: http://bgis.sanbi.org/Projects/Detail/1234

The Guideline chapters are labelled, and each has been formatted to include page numbers. Each page has line numbers on the left margin of the page or column. Line numbering is not continuous throughout the document, but restarts at number 1 on each page. 

In order for the authors to be able to respond to your comments, the comments need to be as clear and specific as possible. Clearly indicate the chapter number (including the name) and page number when providing comments.  For comments on Chapter 6; Protocol Implementation, 6.3 Step-by-step guidance for the Terrestrial and Aquatic Biodiversity Protocols, please provide the Chapter number, page number and the protocol numbering which you are commenting on. 

As part of the public review process of the Ecosystem Assessment Guideline, a webinar to discuss the key concepts of the Draft Guideline will be hosted by the South African Affiliate for the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIAsa) on the 12th of July 2021. Stakeholders are encouraged to register via the following link: https://app.glueup.com/event/iaiasa-sanbi-national-event-38908/ to participate.

Warm regards

Abigail Bahindwa
Specialist Advisor: Environmental Management 
South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
Biodiversity and Land Use Project 

SANBI Website Link to Guideline and Documents under discussion 

Event Recording Part 1 – https://youtu.be/iN7YRrGNXKM

Event Recording Part 2 – https://youtu.be/xOCSrNAghRU 

Presentation 1
SANBI CSIR – Ecosysterm Environmental Assessment Guideline Webinar Accouncement – 12 July 2021 – Warrick Stewart (Resilience Environmental Advice), Abigail Bahindwa (SANBI),
Abulele Adams (CSIR), Mthobisi Nzimande (SANBI), Fahiema Daniels (SAN Parks),
Nancy Job (SANBI), James Dabrowski (Confluent Environmental)

Presentation 2
SANBI_Ecosystem Environmental Assessment Guideline Webinar Final_Protocol and Guidelines Sections – Warrick Stewart (Resilience Environmental Advice), Abigail Bahindwa (SANBI),
Abulele Adams (CSIR), Mthobisi Nzimande (SANBI), Fahiema Daniels (SAN Parks),
Nancy Job (SANBI), James Dabrowski (Confluent Environmental)