THELACKOF SEA TO SUPPORT AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES IN IRELAND'S RURAL ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION SCHEME

Jackie Whelan () and John Fry ()
Additional contact information
Jackie Whelan: School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture and Food Centre, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland;
John Fry: School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture and Food Centre, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland

Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), 2011, vol. 13, issue 01, 101-127

Abstract: Proposals specifically aimed at environmental benefits or enhancements are often exempt from environmental assessment, despite evidence that they can be counter-productive. This is true of agri-environmental schemes where local farm-scale actions are expected to generate large-area cumulative effects on water quality, biodiversity or landscape. Evidence suggests benefits of schemes have often been assumed rather than planned for, necessitatingex-postassessment to justify continuance. This paper argues the need for the Irish Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS) to be assessed using SEA. REPS promoted a range of small-scale improvements in a bottom-up approach intended to reflect several high-level policy objectives primarily concerning environmental protection. The paper is based on analysis of "landscape protection" under the REPS from inception in 1994 until its phasing out period in 2015 when all participants will have completed their plans. The paper investigates how linking SEA to REPS had potential for harmonising with other policy objectives and therefore avoiding administrative duplication. Comparison with the Water Framework Directive suggests opportunities to connect different environmental procedures.

Keywords: SEA Directive; Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS); harmonising policy objectives; Natura 2000; Water Framework Directive (WFD) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1464333211003808
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:jeapmx:v:13:y:2011:i:01:n:s1464333211003808

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S1464333211003808

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM) is currently edited by Thomas Fischer

More articles in Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().