Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment for Shelter Activities

1. Environmental Impact Analysis and Shelter Activities C. Kelly, REA Project and David Stone, FRAME Project Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

2. Objectives • Briefly discuss 3 tools available to analyze the environmental impacts of shelter activities. • Raise moral and ethical obligations, policy and best practice with respect to the environment and shelter activities. • Identity gaps and needs for additional training and tools for disaster EIAs focusing on shelter. Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

3. The Problem • Environmental conditions can contribute to disasters. • Disasters can result in negative environmental impacts. • Relief aid can have positive or negative environmental impact. • Failing to corporate environmental impact assessment into shelter activities can result in “building back worse”, with increased hardship and risk to the disaster survivors. Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

4. Key Origins Post-Disaster Shelter Environmental Impacts • Rapid and significant replacement of resources lost in a disaster. Replacement of resources accumulated over 20-30 years in 2-3 years. • Minimal reuse/recycling in the project approach. • Changes in land use and occupation patterns: Transitional and Permanent Shelter. Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

5. Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment in Disasters (REA) Components Four “Tools”: • Organization Level Assessment • Community Level Assessment • Consolidation and Analysis 4. Green Emergency Procurement Checklist Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

6. The Environmental Impact Review of Shelter Checklist • Developed after Tsunami in Sri Lanka. • Designed to Sphere and other good practices. • Recognizes post disaster shelter is an incremental process. • Balance between detail and speed. • Voluntary compliance. • Non-specialist user. Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

7. The Checklist Forms • Built around the shelter life cycle. • Four forms: Site Selection, Construction, Management, Decommissioning. • Completed • As a review of plans before construction to identify need for changes • As a review of existing sites to identify need for “upgrades” • 20 – 30 min. to do full set, plus time for walk around site. Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

8. The Format and Process Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

9. REA and Shelter Checklist Available at http://www.benfieldhrc.org/SiteRoot/disaster_studies/rea/rea_index.htm Or just Google: Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project

10. RELEVANT WHEN? Contingency planning Site selection Site planning Site management Decommissioning The return process CONSIDER Physical site assessment (EA/REA) Needs assessments Resources needed and available - procurement Options available Governance and tenure Inter-agency co-ordination SHELTER, OUTSIDE THE BOX

11. Most damage to natural resources and ecosystem services probably happens during the early phases of site planning and establishment. “Providing” shelter is often one of the starting points of this damage. Livelihood prospects and opportunities are affected throughout, with a shift to hosting and receiving communities when camps close. SOME SHELTER IMPACTS

12. FRAME Project FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, MONITORING AND EVALUATION IN REFUGEE-RELATED OPERATIONSUNHCR CARE International http://www.benfieldhrc.org/disaster_studies/rea/rea_unhcr_framework.htm

13. Recognised gaps in the tools available to address certain aspects of environmental management Lack of tools appropriate for HCR/IPs Needed innovative and appropriate approaches Needed something which addressed the whole cycle of project/programme management – and which could reach across all sectors Wanted a product that could be used by different stakeholders and capable of being adapted for different situations WHY FRAME?

14. AUDIENCE • Specialist consultants • UNHCR’s Implementing Partners • UNHCR Environmental Co-ordinators or Focal Points • Camp and settlement managers • UNHCR management • Government authorities • Representatives from refugee and host communities, e.g. Environmental Committees Some Modules will be more appropriate to specific users

15. PROCESS ADOPTED • Expert consultation – drafting • Field applications (Guinea & Uganda) • Field testing (Chad, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sudan, Thailand, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Guinea, Nepal) • Training (REA + CEAP) • Revisions • Peer review • Pilot launch

16. FRAME TOOLKIT • Module I Introduction • Module II Environmental Assessment (EA) • Module III Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) • Module IV Community Environmental Action Plan (CEAP) • Module V Environmental Indicators Framework • Module VI Geographic Information System (GIS) Applications for Environmental Management • Module VII Evaluation

17. USING THE TOOLKIT Some Observations • FRAME’s tools respond to user needs - relevant • Appreciation at field level – relevant and appropriate • Gives managers information they can understand and use • Flexible and offers different approaches to different situations • Some users will need training and technical back-up support • On balance, if the Toolkit is used in a comprehensive manner, it will add value

18. CAN THIS HELP? Timely assessments, for example, can: • Identify problems, issues and risks in a timely and consistent manner • Help develop more appropriate responses – some traditional approaches may need to change; new social skills may need to be applied • Results easily interpreted, integrated and applied • Institutional commitment and follow-up

24. Our Four Little Questions • Are the current tools adequate? • Are there adequate capacities to assess and act on assessment results? • Are policies and funding adequate? • Do shelter experts have other more important things to do that worry about the environment? Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Project