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A. Developing Appropriate and Sustainable Databases

Introduction
Types of environmental data
Coverage of data
Source of data
Application of database in environmental assessment

Introduction

The term “environment” is an all-encompassing one, which means essentially everything around us including the conditions under which we live. It consists of network of numerous dynamic processes. In a natural state, they are maintained in equilibrium. For instance – ecosystems, energy cycle, water cycle, etc. can be taken.

Human beings are also a part of the environment, who have the ability to gather resources beyond their immediate surroundings and process them into different and more versatile ways. These abilities have made it possible for human population to thrive and flourish beyond the natural constraints. But uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources and disposal of generated wastes exceeding the assimilation capacity of the environment have initiated the process of environmental degradation. Necessity of the environmental protection interventions has been realized. In the process of combating the environmental deterioration, information on the environmental resources and factors responsible for their deterioration, are the prerequisites.

Developing appropriate and sustainable databases holds a very important role in the process of integrating environmental consideration into development planning. Design of appropriate databases relates to quantity of data, types of data, coverage of data (global, regional, national, local) frequency of data collection. Developing a sustainable database requires integration of bio-physical, social and environmental databases from holistic perspective along with information on stakeholder's concern. Active public participation at all levels from policy planning to implementation and monitoring holds an instrumental role in sustainable development endeavours.

Environmental Database is a systematic compilation of qualitative and/or quantitative information of the environmental resources, which facilitate in keeping track of the changes and development occurring in them, which are essential to carry out environmental protection/conservation interventions.

The environmental database has following multi-faceted applications:

• provides a foundation and a reference point for the analysis of current status of the environment factors and prediction of their future trend, which is necessary for formulation of appropriate policies to combat environmental degradation;
• Analysis of an environment database helps to have actual scenario of the existing environmental condition, which facilitates assessment of the environmental impacts and also facilitates in decision making process for implementation of development and economic activities;
• Public participation is a prerequisite for effective undertaking of environmental conservation policies. The environmental database could be a sources of information for dissemination to generate awareness and enhance public participation;
• Integration of environmental considerations in development planning has emerged recently. The quality and quantity of trained human resource in this sector are still inadequate. Dissemination of an appropriate environmental database in academic teaching and training would facilitate understanding of environmental sustainability;
• serve as the reference and/or source of information for undertaking research, investigation and study;
• help in addressing transboundary environmental issues.

Types of Environmental Data

A holistic approach is essential to understand the underlying factors and relationships of the environment. A multidisciplinary information compilation system in a consolidated manner is required in maintaining the environmental database, which encompasses the biophysical, social, economical and cultural components. Environmental database could be presented in following broad categories:

Bio-physical
• land, water and air, including all layers of the atmosphere;
• all organic and inorganic matter and living organisms; and
• the interacting natural systems (ecosystems) that include these components.

Socio-economic and cultural
• the socio-economic and cultural conditions that influence the lives of the people and the communities.

Built environment
• any building or structure made by the people.

The environment related statistics usually involve more than one government organizations. The overlapping in responsibility of each of them will be one of the major constrains for developing environmental database. To avoid these problems, there should be a good coordination framework. Some countries may set up an independent organization to cooperate only with the statistics from all ministries.

Coverage of data

• National coverage: The data in national level is used to present the situation of the country. It is essential in policy decision making processes at national level.
• International coverage: Selected data may be used extensively in the context of international agreements, treaties, and initiatives. The major concerns of international coverage are duplication and comparability of the data, and that depends on the use of internationally agreed definitions, classifications and procedures. (e.g. classification on hazardous waste within the framework of the Basel convention on trans-frontier movement of hazardous waste, The IPPC's multi-volume methodology to compute green house gas emissions)
• Regional coverage: The data can be broken down into regional level depending on the coverage of original data set. It is often based on administrative units that often do not coincide with natural borders.
   

Source of Data

The sources of environmental information could be categorized into three types:

Primary information
Primary information are obtained from the surveys, which are collected first-hand. Such data are original in character, and are generated by the surveys conducted mostly by Government, some individuals, institutions, and research bodies. For example, data obtained by Ministry of Population and Environment (MOPE) on pollution level of a river stretch is a primary data for itself.

The methodologies to generate environmental data are as follows:

• Collection of samples and their analysis using various tools, such as laboratory analysis etc
• Questionnaire surveys, interview of the concerned stakeholders; and
• Statistical analyses

Secondary Sources
Secondary Sources are the ones which are not originally collected and rather obtained from published or unpublished sources. For example, if a person/research institution utilizes the data on the river pollution published by MOPE, such data are the secondary.

Both types of data have equal importance in its application. Secondary data constitute very useful information as they may provide basis for any environmental study. In fact, it is desirable to review existing secondary data prior to collection of primary data. The data banks are useful for followings reasons:

• provide information on the current status of the environmental factor under consideration, thus provide an early notice about the possible pitfalls;
• avoid duplication of the efforts; and
• save resources.

Monitoring Data:
Environmental resources and the factors that are affecting them are dynamic in nature and they are changing spatially and temporally. Constant monitoring of these factors provides time series data input, which are essential for keeping track of the changes that are occurring in the environment. The meteorological data such as rainfall, temperature, precipitation are recorded in meteorological stations on a daily, monthly, annual and long-term averages provide climatic trends of the area. Similarly, pollution monitoring of the air, water, and noise, provide a trend of changes that are occurring over time.
 

Application of database in environmental assessment

Environmental Assessment (EA) is extensively utilised to address the environmental concerns of development and economic activities at the project level. It has proven to be an effective tool of environmental management and is increasingly adopted by the governments of both developed and developing countries.

Environmental assessment is a holistic process of impact assessment, which identifies, predicts, and evaluates anticipated environmental effects of the proposed project. Environmental assessment process necessitates establishment of baseline condition of the environmental resources to analyse the anticipated effects of the project interventions, for which environmental database are being used. Knowledge on baseline condition is essential to establish the nature and level of effects that the proposed project is likely to generate and to facilitate the decision-making process regarding project’s environmental feasibility and sustainability. The level of knowledge on the baseline information has direct relation with the accuracy of impact assessment and consequently the quality of environmental assessment study.

In a nutshell, the role of baseline information in the EA could be summarized as:

• providing a description of the status and trends of environmental factors (e.g., air pollutant concentrations) against which predicted changes can be compared and evaluated in terms of importance; and
• providing a means of detecting actual change by monitoring once a project has been initiated.

The baseline information in an environmental assessment study is the description of the environmental setting which includes environmental resources, components, their interaction, and the factors effecting them, of the area in which the proposed action would occur. The level of description shall be sufficient to make a comprehensive analysis on the impacts.

The following are the major environmental parameters of the proposed project area for which the existing baseline information are required to be assessed.

• geology: geological provinces, bedrock formations, history of geological stability or instability;
• topography: general topography of region, specific topography of project area;
• soils: soil mapping, soil series properties, constraints to development;
• groundwater resources: nature of water-bearing formations, recharge rates, sustainable safe yields, locations and depths of existing wells etc.;
• sound levels: existing sound levels, sources of sound;
• surface water resources: drainage basin and sub-basin, named and unnamed water bodies and water courses, regulatory, classification of water bodies, flow regimes, water quality data and evaluation, identification of existing permitted discharges to surface water;
• terrestrial communities (botanical and zoological): spatial arrangement of vegetation community types, species, abundance listings, wildlife species, abundance listing, records of threatened and endangered plant and animal species,
• aquatic communities: nature of aquatic habitats species abundance listings for aquatic macro invertebrate and fish communities, ecological indexing of community data;
• environmentally sensitive area: identification of wetlands, floodplains, steep slopes, stands of mature vegetation, aquifer recharge areas, areas of high water table, areas of' rock outcrops, prime agricultural mines;
• land use: existing patterns of land use in region, regional planning for future use, zoning;
• demography: estimated population, recent trends and projections for future population;
• socio-economic: economic and social structure of communities, tax rates, characteristic types of development;
• infrastructure services: nature and scope of human services such as police and fire protection, hospital, schools, utilities;
• transportation: layout and function of existing roadways, airports; existing and projected capacities and demands;
• cultural resources: location and characterization of identified cultural resources (archaeological, historical, cultural, landmark), potential for unidentified resources to be present in project area; and
• project economics: comparative analysis of proposed alternatives with cost-effective criteria, cost/benefit criteria, or other methods.

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