Environmental impact assessment (EIA) effectiveness in protected areas. Issue 4 (4th July 2021) - Alberts, Reece Cronje
ABSTRACT: Despite increased focus on environmental impact assessment (EIA) effectiveness in general, little research has been conducted on EIA effectiveness in protected areas (PAs). This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of EIA in PAs through the use of 42 specifically designed key performance indicators (KPIs) derived from a theory of change (ToC) approach to effectiveness evaluation. These KPIs are applied to a selection of six EIA cases from a specific case country, namely South Africa. In so doing, this research evaluates EIA effectiveness against three dimensions, namely, transactive, procedural and substantive effectiveness, whilst also identifying four causal scenarios for EIA effectiveness in PAs. The research found that costs, skills and competencies, as well as EIA report substance, were particular weaknesses for the cases evaluated. However, these weaknesses did not always produce a causal link to the effectiveness of the EIAs.