Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The purpose of the thesis is to describe how environmental compensation is carried through when it comes to exploitation of Natura 2000. The thesis also relates to the three theories of planning synoptic, advocacy and transactive. Three cases of environmental compensation have been studied from three different countries where an exploitation of the Natura 2000 is done. Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands have all been working with environmental impact assessments as a demand to be able to carry through their projects. The projects concern the development of a railway track, an industry and a port which all have been approved by the EU-commission to carry on because of socioeconomic reasons. When society will meet nature the complexity of the environmental compensation is extensive. There are many aspects to consider such as ethical, economical and ecological aspects. In a small extent it is about priority but the values of Natura 2000 cannot be disregarded.

One of the most important aspects to consider in exploitation is time. The environmental impact assessment must be completed before the irreversible effect occurs. The case study of Germany has shown that their impact assessment is not completed in spite of the fact that the exploitation of Natura 2000 is already in place. Such a situation can lead to devastating consequences to the habitats and species in the area. In worst scenario it can lead to their extinction.

Another aspect concerning the planning is in what extent the society can influence and bring up their opinions. The projects are comprehensive which also makes the procedure of planning extensive and the decisions are made by authorities and governments. Despite this there have been possibilities in all cases to the society to effect. When working with the case studies I have understood that the voice of the small person hardly can reach out but there is shown that Non Governmental Organizations can effect and change a decision. When it comes to the theories of planning all cases can be placed under the synoptic theory. As the theory says there is in all the cases a planning done with a long future involved. In a short period of time the exploitation will make some damage which will cost a huge sum of money but in the long run mainly positive effects will remain including the work of the environmental impact assessment.

One conclusion of the thesis is that we all are dependent on the nature which we therefore have to care about. It is also important that we not just care about the Natura 2000 areas but also our every day landscape. If we just would exploit low valued land without any compensational measures, does not this land then disappear gradually and the value will finally increase? In that case we have come into a similar situation as the Natura 2000 area that an environmental impact assessment has to be done to prevent the extinction of specious and habitats. Why not compensate all kind of land from the beginning? One aspect which hardly is mentioned is the potential qualities of an area. The demand of today´s environmental compensation is to compensate for ecological values. With that nothing is said about environmental compensation of the potential values and functions of the area. Remember that all our nature has got values to pay attention to, existing values as well as potential values.