1.3-b) Environmental assessment and monitoring

• Environmental monitoring: ➞ describes the processes and activities that need to take place in order to characterise and assess the quality of an environment over time.

Environmental monitoring monitors abiotic factors and species to: 1. Detect changes in population size and health 2. Allow for planning of conservation and management strategies 3. Detect the impact of human activities 4. Assess the effectiveness of intervention methods

• An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): ➞ ensures the local planning authority has full knowledge of: 1. Any possible environmental effects of a proposed development 2. How to minimise these • This is taken into account in the decision-making process.

• A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA): ➞ is mandatory for plans that relate to large-scale changes in land use: 1. In Scotland, public bodies and private companies, such as utility companies, are required to monitor the environmental impact of their plans, programmes and strategies.

• An EIA is an environmental assessment for an individual project. • An SEA is an environmental assessment for large-scale public or government-led plans.

• Enforcing legislation 📝 • Advising government, local authority planners, land owners, land users and voluntary organisations 🏢 • Shaping national policies 📢 • Educating the public 🍎 • Researching and monitoring 🧪

• Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSis): ➞ are areas of high conservation value in terms of their: 1. Flora (plants) 🌿 2. Fauna (animals) 🐸 3. Geology (rocks) 🪨 4. Geomorphology (landforms) ⛰️

• An area is designated as an SSSI to protect it. ➞ This means owners must manage the site appropriately to conserve its special features. • There are over 1,400 SSSIs in Scotland, which cover 12% of the land and are controlled by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

• Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): ➞ protect a wide range of habitats, species, geology and undersea landforms in Scottish waters. • Scotland’s network of MPAs consists of 244 sites which cover 37% of our seas.

• Policy: ➞ is a plan of action that focuses on a specific target.

• Strategy: ➞ outlines the methods and principles needed to achieve the policy.

• Legislation: ➞ are laws made by governments that outline procedures or standards that people and organisations must follow.

• Initiatives: ➞ are important acts or statements that are intended to solve a problem.

• A hydrograph is a graph showing how a waterbody reacts after a period of rainfall.

Hydrographs are used to: 1. Show how a waterbody is affected by a storm ⛈️ 2. Understand discharge patterns in a drainage basin 💧 3. Predict flooding 🌊 4. Plan flood prevention measures ⚠️

• Geological conditions 🪨 • Land cover 🌄 • Precipitation 🌧️ • Temperature 🌡️ • Soil moisture and composition 🌱 • Slope 🏔️