Global warming is a grave cause for concern, and so environmental protection is given priority world over. Our natural resources are gradually diminishing due to rapid growth of industries and various developmental projects like energy and petroleum products.

Policies and procedures are introduced to protect the environment. Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process of appraising potential impacts of a project on environment. The process of studying and assessing a project for possible environment impact at an initial stage can be useful in addressing the issues it may cause.

The keskkonnamõjude hindamine or EIA is an official assessment process with public participation and they are given the liberty to contribute their valuable inputs on potential impact of a project on environment. Experts evaluate the possible hazards that can be caused by the project and offer an insight into the mitigating measures to be taken. EIA has been adopted in most of countries, and it has been very useful in controlling adverse impact on surroundings by a project or a programme.

Benefits of EIA

EIA can be beneficial in implementing developmental projects with environment into consideration.

Major benefits of EIA are:

· Protect human health

· Natural resource management

· Public participation

· Optimise environmental hazards

· Save time and money on projects

Public opinion has great importance in EIA and it offers an opportunity to the general people to raise their concerns and get the authorities to deal with them. Local people settled around the project area can contribute information on the possible environment impact, and this information can be utilised for expert analysis.

Environment protection by alternatives or mitigation

Alternatives are developed to avoid or lessen the adverse impact of a project on environment, and this way it can be made sure that no human being, animals or plants are affected. It basically maintains the required balance in the environment. Alternatives are like changing the site, use a method to minimise impact, planting trees to stop soil erosion, and in some case discard the project altogether.

EIA Procedure

Screening, scoping and documentation are the three major procedures involved in the carrying out EIA successfully.

Screening is to ascertain whether a project requires EIA or not. Scoping will spot the issues that needs to be dealt with for a particular project and the process involves project analysis to forecast nature of environment impact, and elimination or mitigation measures to be taken.

Furthermore, EIA is an ongoing process and auditing is needed to ascertain proper implementation of alternative measures and mitigation. Verifying compliance is necessary to identify unexpected impact and failed mitigation measures, and the issues are address on time to further stop any harmful consequences.

Political commitment and public involvement is necessary to address critical issues on environment impact. Method of conducting assessment is revised on a regular basis for making improvement to eliminate limitations and chart out better methods to meet the future needs. In short, EIA is a must for any project that is being introduced, and it should be carried out time and again to make sure that the environment is not affected at any cost.

Author's Bio -

Arthur Cooper works with one of the best environmental impact assessment or keskkonnamõjude hindamine service providers, and their experts check the feasibility of projects by considering social, economical, and natural aspects surrounding them. To know more about how human health can be protected while your projects are in progress, please visit their website.