A detailed development plan (DDP) is a legally binding plan that regulates the municipalities land use on a detailed level. The purpose with the DDP is to evaluate the suitability for development on land access, in order for municipalities to manage spatial planning and minimize environmental harm. If a DDP would likely cause a significant impact on the environment, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has to be produced. The aim of this thesis was to investigate how DDP and EIA processes are working on a local level in Sweden, and how the quality is reflected in the processes. More specifically, I investigated the role of EIA actors involved in the DDP process, as well as whether these processes are inadequate from an environmental conservation perspective. To investigate these issues, a document study was conducted as well as an interview study. The results from the study presents several shortcomings in both processes; examples of shortcomings were the lacking knowledge among the DDP and EIA actors in how to conduct the process, as well as interpreting and understanding the law.  Other observed shortcomings were the different levels of engagement among the plan administrators, the EIA performers and the County Administrative Board reviewers. Three important factors were recognized for achieving good processes. Firstly, the people involved need to have broad knowledge and good qualifications. Secondly, the actors must be able to communicate in a good and clear manner. Lastly, the third factor is a good process leader who brings together the DDP and EIA process.

The end of the last century saw a meteoric rise in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and its implementation worldwide subsequent to it being legislated by the United States in 1970. The South African Government's Council for the Environment attempted to emulate international developments in EIA and compiled the Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) guidelines of 1989 which delineated the procedure for undertaking EIAs for development projects in South Africa. It was envisaged that these guidelines would ultimately be made law. The period between 1989 and 1997 was a window period when the IEM guidelines were implemented voluntarily. This period therefore constitutes an important era in the history of EIA in South Africa to which constant reference is made and upon which further development in EIA in South Africa has been reliant. The period 1989 to 1997 also coincided with a major increase in the bulk electricity supply to KwaZulu-Natal by Eskom, the national electricity utility. Eskom had actively tracked the evolution of Environmental Management globally and was considered to be at the forefront of Industrial Environmental Management in South Africa and there was therefore an expectation that Eskom would implement the IEM guidelines. In this study twelve EIAs for Eskom powerlines and substations constructed in KZN for the period were analysed and trends in the implementation of the IEM guidelines extrapolated. This study highlights the extent to which the IEM guidelines were implemented. It discusses the problems attendant to its implementation, which were found to be common to the implementation of EIA globally. From this research it became clear that factors external to the IEM guidelines needed to be resolved before the IEM guidelines could be implemented. The administrative requirement was one of the most important and necessary requirements for successful implementation, but this had not been thoroughly anticipated by Eskom nor the guidelines themselves. This required that there was major reform to policy and company procedure, which had to be clearly understood and accepted, before IEM could be effectively implemented. As a consequence, the implementation of the various steps of the IEM guidelines seldom revealed consistent and satisfactory implementation. Even where the IEM guidelines were more closely followed and implemented, previously entrenched technocentrist procedures and ideals persisted and therefore IEM was subverted and implemented with the wrong goal in mind. There was also an expectation that there would be an improvement in EIA practice with time. It was found that there was a greater association between the quality of the EIA conducted and the Eskom Environmental Officer responsible for it, rather than a consistent improvement with time. Thus integration into the project process of environmental procedure is a complex process and it requires firstly that a company is reformed. Reform has subsequently begun to transpire in Eskom. This reform includes education of company employees, which in turn is linked to political will which is necessary to effect the changes required to apply a procedure such as the IEM guidelines. This study reviews the implementation of the IEM guidelines in Eskom during this important development phase. It therefore reflects on a key portion of the history of EIA implementation in this country. The study provides insight into organisational reform and the voluntary commitments required for successful implementation of EIA. Benefit can be drawn from this study for future implementation of EIA even though EIA legislation now exists, as some form of voluntariness, political will and organisational reform is always imperative for ETA's successful and effective implementation. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Inanda Dam situated near Durban in the Mngeni River, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal was completed in the late 1980s. As a typical large dam of the modern era, one major impact of the dam was the displacement and resettlement of over 1300 rural households living under communal ("tribal") tenure. Households were relocated to different places some kilometres away from their original places. These new relocation areas, where different tenure and other arrangements prevailed, then became their permanent residential location. This study was initiated to investigate two key issues. It sought to understand how the relocation altered the quality of life of removed families. It also sought to explore adaptation strategies adopted by the settlers and constraints to effective adaptation. Primary data were collected by means of in-depth interviews and direct observation of certain indicators of quality of life in the study area, over a period of five months. Fourteen households participated in the study. Simple quantitative methods were used to supplement the overall qualitative research design. Because of the small sample that was used, the study is perhaps not widely generalizable. However the study does provide insights into the long-term impacts of this inadequately mitigated displacement. It is also a case study of the nature of long-term environmental injustice and disruption associated with the construction of large dams. This is an injustice made worse by the political system of apartheid prevailing when the dam was planned and built. The general findings are that the dam did impact negatively on the quality of life of the displaced families. Thirteen years after compulsory relocation, the quality of life of several families has deteriorated instead of slowly improving. While the process of adaptation for some families has been easy, other families are still battling to reconstruct their livelihoods and quality of life. Where benefits of access to services such as potable piped water and electricity are enjoyed, these benefits are overshadowed by inability to pay and lack of access to other goods such as proper housing and adequate land. Loss of access to common property resources has meant a shift towards more money-based livelihood generation strategies. Constraints to adaptation are both internal and external. Low levels of socioeconomic status, poor access to environmental resources and the unfavourable political conditions in the relocation areas are some of the major constraints to effective adaptation. While the individual and group coping strategies employed have assisted families in the adaptation process, it is argued that the inadequacy of state support mechanisms significantly retarded the ability of households to adapt to life in the relocation areas. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Idag står vi inför flera miljöproblem som exempelvis klimatpåverkan och förlust av biologisk mångfald. Vattenkraften är en förnybar energikälla som kan producera el med låga utsläpp av växthusgaser. Sverige har en lång tradition av att utnyttja vattnet som energikälla och har det senaste århundradet byggt ut en majoritet av de svenska vattendragen med vattenkraftverk. Idag står vattenkraften för nästan hälften av Sveriges elproduktion och bidrar till Sveriges låga utsläpp av växthusgaser. Samtidigt anses vattenkraften påverka den biologiska mångfalden och vattendragen negativt. Av ungefär 2100 kraftverk står de 200 största för över 90 % av elproduktionen. Det finns alltså ett stort antal småskaliga kraftverk som bidrar med en liten del elproduktion samtidigt som de riskerar att påverka vattendragen negativt. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om elproduktionen från småskalig vattenkraft är försvarbar sett till dess miljöpåverkan. Studien använde en kvalitativ metod baserad på semi-strukturerade intervjuer med följande intressenter inom småskalig vattenkraft: Svensk Energi, Svensk Vattenkraftförening, Energimyndigheten, Havs- och Vattenmyndigheten, Naturskyddsföreningen, Sportfiskarna samt Älvräddarna. Resultaten visade att småskalig vattenkraft är en billig och etablerad energikälla, den kan bidra med kulturella värden, den är lokalt producerad och konsumerad som kan ge en ökad stabilitet till elnätet samt minska distributionsförluster. Nackdelarna visar att småskalig vattenkraft saknar några av de viktigaste funktionerna som storskalig vattenkraft kan bidra med: reglering av elnätet samt möjlighet att lagra vatten som kan användas vid behov. Vidare kan småskalig vattenkraft anses ha en stor negativ påverkan på vattendragen och den biologiska mångfalden. Potentialen för småskalig vattenkraft kan också anses vara lägre än för övrig förnybar energi samtidigt som utvecklingen går långsammare. Lagstiftning, tillstånd och elcertifikatsystemet har även identifierats som faktorer som inte hjälper situationen för miljön i vattendragen. Behoven av att producera förnybar el från småskalig vattenkraft kan anses vara lägre än behovet av att värna om vattendragen och den biologiska mångfalden för att nå Sveriges miljökvalitetsmål och EU:s vattendirektiv. Det finns utrymme för att minska elproduktionen från småskalig vattenkraft och ändå nå miljöpolitiska mål om förnybar energi och vattenmiljö. Slutsatsen är att elproduktionen från småskalig vattenkraft inte är försvarbar sett till dess miljöpåverkan och att man bör undersöka möjligheten att ta bort de allra minsta kraftverken med störst miljöpåverkan. Det har också framkommit att det saknas ordentliga styrmedel för att främja biologisk mångfald och vattenmiljöer samt att synen på småskalig vattenkraft som miljövänlig bör ifrågasättas. / Today we face many environmental problems such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Hydropower is a renewable energy source that can produce electricity with low greenhouse gas emissions. Sweden has a long tradition of using water as an energy source and has during the past century built hydropower in a majority of the Swedish rivers. Today, hydropower accounts for nearly half of Sweden's electricity production and contributes to Sweden's low greenhouse gas emissions. But hydropower also affects biodiversity and water bodies negatively. Of the approximately 2100 hydropower plants in Sweden, 200 accounts for over 90% of the electricity production. Thus there are a large number of small-scale hydropower plants that contribute to a small portion of the electricity while they are liable to affect streams negative. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether electricity from small-scale hydropower is justifiable in terms of its environmental impact. The study used a qualitative method based on semi-structured interviews with the following stakeholders: Swedenergy, Swedish Hydropower Association, Swedish Energy Agency, Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Swedish Anglers’ Association and River Savers Association Sweden. The results showed that small-scale hydropower is a cheap and established energy source, it can also contribute with cultural values, it is locally produced and consumed that can give greater stability to the electricity grid and reduce distribution losses. The disadvantages show that small-scale hydropower lacks some of the key features that large-scale hydropower can provide: the regulation of the electricity grid and the ability to store water that can be used if necessary. Furthermore, small-scale hydropower is considered to have a major negative impact on streams and biodiversity. The potential for small-scale hydropower could also be considered lower than for other renewable energy while developing more slowly. Legislation, permits and electricity certificate system has also been identified as factors that do not help the environmental situation in streams. The need to produce renewable electricity from small-scale hydropower can be considered lower than the need to protect streams and biodiversity to reach Swedish environmental quality objectives and the Water Framework Directive. There is scope for reducing electricity production from small-scale hydropower and still achieve environmental policy objectives on renewable energy and streams and biodiversity. The conclusion is that electricity production from small-scale hydropower cannot be justified in terms of its environmental impact and that there is a need to examine the possibility of removing the smallest hydropower plants with the greatest environmental impact. It is also stressed that there is a lack of proper incentives to promote biodiversity and aquatic environments and that the view of small-scale hydropower as environmentally friendly should be questioned.

Ciliwung Watershed is the most developed area in Indonesia. However, development needs have caused overexploitation of the available resources, which have eventually caused deterioration of the environment of this watershed, and caused several areas to be more prone to natural hazards. This study develops certain Geographic Information System models to identify the physical-environmental characteristics of the watershed, in an attempt to avoid further improper resources utilization. These models yield the soil erosion critical areas, landslide potential areas, the spread of sea water intrusion, land subsidence potential areas, surface runoff characteristic, natural hazards prone areas, and groundwater recharge area.Based on these yielded characteristics, the general physical capability of this watershed can be delineated, which consists of five capability zones : Zone I, the flood prone area that also occupies by seawater intrusion and potential land subsidence areas; Zone II, the area that is affected by excessive groundwater withdrawal, which has sea water intrusion areas and prone to land subsidence; Zone III, the groundwater recharge area for Jakarta Plain; Zone IV, the most capable area for physical development; and Zone V, upper part of the watershed which has landslide potential areas, soil erosion critical areas, and volcanic eruption prone areas. / Department of Natural Resources

Nearly 45 years ago, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law to become the first national policy for the environment of the United States. As it has evolved over time through implementation and litigation, numerous countries and states around the world have emulated NEPA with similar environmental impact assessment requirements. Many scholars have evaluated the success of the legislation in accomplishing its lofty goals. Most commonly, however, these studies address the procedural performance of agencies through the creation of environmental impact statements. This thesis examines the effectiveness of NEPA in accomplishing its substantive, rather than procedural, goals by identifying a set of values essential to meeting the fundamental intent of the Act. The values are then evaluated in the context of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Project to determine whether or not the NEPA process was effective in this case and to derive lessons for its future implementation.

129I is a radioactive isotope (T1/2= 15.7 million years) produced through natural and anthropogenic pathways, but the anthropogenic production is presently dominating the Earth’s surface environments. Sparse data from previous investigations in the Baltic Sea clearly indicated the occurrence of 129I at levels 3-4 orders higher than natural pre-atomic era (before 1940) without comprehensive evaluation of distribution and inventory. In this thesis extensive data on the distribution and inventory of iodine isotopes, 129I and 127I, and their species in waters of the Baltic Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak are presented and used for estimation of water masses exchange and impact on the environment.  To fulfill these objectives seawater samples were collected in August 2006 and April 2007 in the Baltic Proper, Kattegat and Skagerrak as well as in December 2009 in the Bothnian Sea. After elaborative chemical separation of total iodine and iodine species, the analysis was performed using ICP-MS for 127I and AMS for 129I. The results reveal considerable differences in 129I concentration in terms of spatial and temporal variability and expose relatively high concentrations in the deep waters. Inventory estimates show higher amounts of 129I in August 2006 (24.2 ±15.4 kg) than in April 2007 (14.4± 8.3 kg) within the southern and central Baltic Proper, whereas almost a constant inventory is found in the Kattegat Basin. Relatively high 127I-/127IO3- and 129I-/129IO3- values in water of the Baltic Proper suggest effective reduction of iodate at a maximum rate of  8×10-7 (127IO3-) and 6×10-14 (129IO3-) (g/m3.day). The combination of 129I and 127I as tracers of water circulation in the Baltic Sea suggest that upwelling deep basinal water occurs into the surface along the Gotland deep and intrusion of North Atlantic water into southern Baltic. Furthermore, 129I-based model inventory reveals inflow of 330 km3/y (230-450 km3/y) water from the Kattegat into the Baltic Proper. Water exchange between the Baltic Proper and the Bothnian Sea and vice versa is estimated at 980 km3/y (600-1400 km3/y) and 1180 km3/y (780-1600 km3/y) respectively. Finally, an environmental assessment of radioactivity associated with 129I burden in the Baltic Sea region is discussed.

Ecological Footprint Analysis (EFA) is a technique that was first developed by Wackernagel as a Ph.D. thesis in 1994, then further developed in combination with Rees and published (Rees & Wackernagel, 1995). EFA is employed in this study to assess the resource utilisation of international tourists visiting New Zealand. Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and the ecological sustainability of tourism is becoming more important term for managing tourism. This is becoming increasingly important with tourism identified as particularly as a significant contributor to carbon emissions. This study uses EFA to assess whether international tourists visiting New Zealand behave in a sustainable manner. Tourists are surveyed and classed into high, mid and low budget tourist types to gain a detailed account of their behaviour with particular reference to food, accommodation, transport, services, activities attractions, goods and waste. The EFA helps to identify areas of a tourist’s trip that have the greatest impact on the environment, thereby identifying ways to improve the sustainability of tourism in New Zealand. It was found that tourists generally consume more whilst on holiday than they do at home and more than New Zealand residents. The results show that international tourists’ behaviour is sustainable and New Zealand has the ecological carrying capacity to allow the number of international tourists to increase without incurring any significant ecological costs to the country. It was found that there is a positive relationship between ‘high’ income tourists and their ecological footprint and that independent travellers have a larger ecological footprint than the package travellers; however, package travellers have a larger food and housing ecological footprint than independent travellers. The energy footprint was the largest out of the six land types of a tourist’s ecological footprint. Food is the consumption category that is the largest contributor to a tourist’s ecological footprint.

Amphibians are suffering extinctions and range contractions globally. This is caused by numerous factors and most of them are related to human activities. The overall aim of this thesis was to make a significant contribution to the conservation of the endemic amphibian Leiopelma hochstetteri through research. This was achieved by focusing in two of the main conservation issues for this species, the need for standardised and robust monitoring techniques to detect trends and changes in populations, and the determination of the prevalence of chytridiomycosis, caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis). Two populations of the Auckland Region were selected for this study, one on the mainland (Waitakere Ranges) and the only known offshore island population of this species (Great Barrier Island). For both study sites different monitoring methods were used to obtain some population parameters. Site occupancy models of MacKenzie et al. (2002) gave reliable site-specific estimations of occupancy and detection probability using covariate information and presence-absence data collected from 50 sites in the Waitakere Ranges and four repeated visits during 2008. Elevation and distance searched were found to have an important effect on occupancy levels, while time taken to search the site was important variable determining detection probabilities. Also, parameters were estimated for three age classes separately. Statistical models were used to infer abundance from occupancy analysis, and results were compared with the distribution of relative abundances obtained from repeated transect counts and an established sight/re-sight criterion. In addition, the use of surrogate measures for relative abundance was explored. Detection probability and the distance to first frog found were found to have a significant correlation with relative abundance. These measures can be used to infer relative abundance in future site occupancy surveys. Two surveys and a pilot site occupancy survey were conducted on Great Barrier Island, and presence of frogs was confirmed atthe northern block, and in a small seepage in the central block. No new locations were found. Waitakere Ranges and Great Barrier Is. populations were tested for the presence of chytridiomycosis, and all frogs sampled tested negative (n = 124) which means that if present chytridiomycosis prevalence is lower than 5% with a 95% confidence interval. This and previous evidence suggests that L. hochstetteri may be resistant or immune to the disease. However, to confirm this additional studies are needed.