A geomorphological model of susceptibility to the effect of human interventions for environmental licensing determination (SHIELD)

Geoscience Frontiers

Celene B. Milanes¹  Enzo Pranzini²  Ivan Correa³  Camilo M. Botero⁴  Benjamin Cuker⁵  Cristina I. Pereira⁵ 

[1] Coastal Systems Research Group, Playas Corporation Ltda., Bogotá, Colombia;Corresponding author.;Civil and Environmental Department, Universidad De La Costa, Barranquilla, Colombia;Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy;EAFIT University, Earth Sciences Department, Medellín, Colombia;

关键词: Processes and landforms;    Expert knowledge;    Ecosystem approach;    Screening;    Scoping;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Almost every country requires some form of environmental licensing prior to the inception of development projects that may affect the integrity of the environment and its social context. We developed a new conceptual and methodological model to instruct the assessment of the potential impacts posed by proposed projects. Susceptibility to Human Interventions for Environmental Licensing Determination (SHIELD) includes a novel geomorphological interpretation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It considers the impact of human interventions on geomorphological processes and landscape functioning in the context of the entire ecosystem, going further than the classical concept of vulnerability. Estimated susceptibility of the site informs the screening stage, allowing local conditions to help define the criteria used in the process. Similarly, the level of detail of the environmental baseline is scoped by considering the degree of disturbance of natural processes posed by human intervention. Testing this geomorphological susceptibility model on different kinds of environments would allow shifting the environmental licensing practices from the prevailing anthropocentric and static conception of the environment towards an Ecosystem Approach. SHIELD addresses the need to improve the screening and scoping stages that form the basis of the rest of any EIA. SHIELD introduces several innovations to EIA including the incorporation of fuzzy logic, a preassembled database of contributions form experts, and a shifting of emphasis from the type of proposed intervention to the type of environment and its relative susceptibility.

【 授权许可】

Unknown