ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

population must be assessed. MOEST must approvethe requisite environmental impact assessment (EIA)reports before any project is started. Projects withoutsignificant environmental impacts only need aninitial environmental examination (IEE) to beconducted by relevant agencies. The NPC hasadopted and applied the concept of strategicenvironmental assessment (SEA) for projectdevelopment policies and programs included in theTenth Five-Year Plan (2002–2007). While the EIAassesses environmental impacts of developmentprojects at the project level, the SEA assessesimpacts at the planning, policy, and programmingstages and can be used in evaluating strategicproposals for appropriate decision making.EIA and SEA capacity issues are acute. The EIAis still largely considered to be an “add-on” projectburden, and EIA reports are commonly based oninadequate data. Although the then MOPE (nowMOEST) has already approved 25 EIA reports fromdifferent projects, it has not been able to monitor theproposed mitigation of identified impacts, and thereis no indication that its successor MOEST will do anybetter. Recent experience based on a cross-sectionof development projects shows that the EIA processis usually enforced only as part of the initial approvalprocess. The problems come later at theimplementation stage. Some common constraintsfaced during implementation of EIA measures aresummarized in Appendix 14.3.Capacity development in augmenting,mobilizing, and enhancing Nepal’s EIA and SEAcapability must be strengthened. The knowledge,tools, and skills necessary to operate an EIA or SEAsystem to an acceptable level of performance mustbe developed. The scope of capacity developmentcan range from establishing preconditions for EIA orSEA development to benchmarking good practices.Supporting measures include research, policyanalysis, institutional design, information exchange,training and skills transfer, building networks,professional development, and guidance onimplementing good practices. Appendix 14.4presents some operational problems identified in theimplementation of the EIA process, together withrecommended solutions.Environmental and NaturalResources Information NetworkInformed decision-making must be based onaccurate data and information. The synthesis andanalysis of basic environmental data yields theinformation that is the precondition for developing apolicy framework, policy design, and the plans andprograms for environmental and natural resourcemanagement. As the population at large becomessensitized to environmental issues, there is a growinginterest in analytical data on the environment. Thedemand for environmental information is escalatingand governments and other stakeholders in civilsociety have been the driving forces both on thesupply and the demand sides. Good, reliable data onNepal is clearly recognized by all stakeholders as afundamental tool for development.Although over the years considerableenvironmental data and information have beencompiled by various institutions, aid projects, andindividual researchers, this information has beendifficult to access. Data appear in isolated reports,and are often dispersed, heterogeneous, andinaccessible; more often than not, they areinsufficiently relevant in terms of continuity andreliability. Without an appropriate framework andmechanisms for data sharing, time and resources arewasted in the duplication of efforts. Public andprivate environmental institutions and bodies inNepal have accumulated environmental data andinformation on natural resources and environmentalconditions. These databases lack a centralized datapool and unified standards. At the national level thereis no national information database integrating all thedata, nor are there any data linkages that wouldallow the sharing of the existing information.An environment and natural resources informationnetwork must be established to facilitate theexchange of information, strengthen appropriatepolicymaking capacities, and be a real tool in theattempt to tackle environmental problems. A unifiedrepository would collect all established databases ofmajor environmental concerns with the participationof government, nongovernment, and academicinstitutions; the private sector, and otherstakeholders. Such a network, which would integratedata and information from decentralized providersand make them available to a multitude of users, isan interesting concept, and doubtless a useful one,but one that needs to be strictly managed to make itviable. Some potential management issues aredescribed below:(i) Initially, the existing structures need to beassessed and the capacity of the differentagencies reinforced to allow them to moreeasily generate and handle multisectoralenvironmental and natural resources dataand information.(ii) Sectoral agencies need to be coordinated sothat the data and information collected aresystematic and conform to a consistentinformation structure that ensures qualityand reliability.214 Environment Assessment of Nepal : Emerging Issues and Challenges