Upcoming...
SCF in collaboration with TISS and Jindal Global Business School is organizing three five days training programmes on ecosystem services and sustainable development.
Tailor-made training programmes
SCF with its highly skilled team in the space of biodiversity and EIA, offering tailor-made training programmes to companies and EIA consultants
Rational
The main cause of natural habitat loss and fragmentation worldwide, is a result of development projects such as linear infrastructures, urbanization, industries and mining. Taking this into consideration the first mechanism pertaining to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) were developed during the 1970’s to become a key instrument in site-specific planning for biodiversity and environmental management. Thus, the concept of EIA was formulated as an estimation of the ‘Impact’ of any project, program, or policy on the surrounding ‘Environment,’ during or after its implementation. The aim of steering such assessments is mainly uniform globally, however, the approaches, methods and practices might differ due to different environmental legislations across the world.
In India, the EIA was introduced in 1978 for the assessment of various river valley development projects. It was later expanded to other development projects and now mandatory for over 30 classes of projects. However, the EIA studies in India haven’t been evolved to international standards except a few. These studies are challenged due to absence or inadequate representation of the effect on ecosystem functions due to lack of regional biodiversity data; ill-defined baseline ecosystem conditions; lack of consideration of cumulative effects of projects; inadequate mitigation and post-monitoring; lack of quality control; and poor stakeholder participation.
In order to avoid these challenges integration and adoption of scientific approaches is necessary. SCF undertakes specially curated three-day residential training programmes or corporates and EIA consultants to develop better understanding on biodiversity surveys, monitoring, evaluation and explores the interdependence of this with various environmental compliance frameworks. This will enable scientifically robust EIA’s which can balance the biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
ITC
SCF team undertook two day training programme for ITC staff and their partner NGOs with themes focused on Biodiversity Act, Biodiversity Management Committees, Joint Forest Management Committees, People’s Biodiversity Register and SDGs
GMR
SCF team delivered two day online training to the environmental management team of GMR with theme on ‘Understanding Biodiversity, Monitoring and Environmental Compliance for EIA Studies’. The focus of the study was on EIA and regulatory framework, bird hazard to aviation, biodiversity studies – survey design, methodology and analysis and case studies