PRINCIPLES FOR THE USE OF STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AS A TOOL FOR PROMOTING THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIVERSITY

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has been identified as an important tool for helping to ensure that development is planned and implemented for the benefit of biodiversity by the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Ramsar Convention and the Convention for Migratory Species. SEA is seen as a way to overcome many limitations of project-level environmental impact assessment by allowing consideration of biodiversity at higher tiers of decision-making and planning.This paper identifies some important principles that should be taken into account to ensure that biodiversity considerations are appropriately addressed in SEA, so that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are pursued as fundamental objectives of strategic decision-making. The paper also sets out key considerations to take into account at different stages in the SEA process. The principles explored in this paper should be applicable in any country where SEA is practiced, even though legislation, methodologies and procedures vary widely.