Summary

These Guidelines have been developed by the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM) to promote good practice in Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) relating to terrestrial, freshwater and coastal environments to the mean low water mark in the UK.

'Ecological Impact Assessment is the process of identifying, quantifying and evaluating the potential impacts of defined actions on ecosystems or their components. If properly implemented it provides a scientifically defensible approach to ecosystem management'^a (Treweek, 1999)¹.

EcIA may be carried out as part of a formal environmental impact assessment (EIA) or to support other forms of environmental assessment or appraisal. EcIA should include the following stages:

scoping, involving consultation to ensure the widest possible input to the definition of the scope of an EcIA (in practice scoping is iterative throughout the EcIA process);
identification of the likely zone of influence arising from the whole lifespan of the project;
identification and evaluation of ecological resources and features likely to be affected;
identification of the biophysical changes likely to affect valued ecological resources and features;
assessment of whether these biophysical changes are likely to give rise to a significant ecological impact, defined as an impact on the integrity of a defined site or ecosystem and/or the conservation status of habitats or species within a given geographical area, including cumulative impacts;
refinement of the project to incorporate ecological enhancement measures, mitigation measures to avoid or reduce negative impacts, and compensation measures for any residual significant negative impacts;
assessment of the ecological impacts of the refined project and definition of the significance of these impacts;
provision of advice on the consequences for decision making of the significant ecological impacts, based on the value of the affected resource or feature; and
provision for monitoring and following up the implementation and success of mitigation measures and ecological outcomes, including feedback in relation to predicted outcomes.

The EcIA process should be iterative and be able to respond to increasing knowledge of a project and its impacts as the project evolves. It is also a 'partnership' process, which is most effective if all relevant ecologists and other specialists work in collaboration. The product of an EcIA should provide the means of gaining understanding of the findings and support for its proposals from non-specialists by making clear the impacts of any proposal.

^a The word 'management' in this context is used to reflect the fact that EcIA has potential applications in all areas of natural resource management and planning.

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