Ecological Impact Assessment; Conceptual Approach for Better Outcomes

This study aims at evaluating the completeness of the content of the ecological part in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) on content review basis. The requirements of the ecological content as stated in the of five sets of Thai’s EIA guidelines, namely the specific guidelines for power plants, industrial projects, dams and harbors and the general guideline are used as the basis for this research. The main findings are that the requirements of the content of the ecological part in the guidelines differ from one guideline to another and the most different one is the specific guideline for dam projects. Generally, ecosystem, habitat and species population are presented. The guideline specifies the requirements for data presentation more clearly than those for ecological impact assessment. In addition, thirty EISs of power plant projects are systematically reviewed and it is found that there are a number of improper practices of ecological impact assessment process including insufficient baseline study, inconsistent impact interpretation, and ignorance of ecological point of view in setting up mitigation measures and monitoring programs. Ecological content in EIA guidelines and EISs can be shown in a logical sequence of events in order to form an effective system of ecological impact assessment.