South Sudan: Environmental Impact Assessment

Oct 23, 2018 | Relief International
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About RI:                

Relief International is a leading nonprofit organization working in 20 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships, and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.     

1.    Background

At the end of 2011, violent clashes in neighboring Blue Nile State in the border region of Sudan drove more than 100,000 people to flee to Maban County in Upper Nile, South Sudan. The vast majority of the refugees are settled in four camps of Yusuf Batil, Doro, Gendarassa, and Kaya. As of February 2018, there were a reported 143,301 refugees (UNHCR) now living in Maban. Initially established to hold only a small number of refugees in November 2011, majority of the camps have long exceeded their original capacity of 25,0000 individuals and the volume of uprooted families continues to take a notable toll on the environment in Maban.

The 2015 Forest mapping and pre-inventory conducted in the two refugee hosting counties of Maban and Pariang and more especially in surrounding Doro, Batil, Kaya and Gendarassa has also shed light on the accelerating rate of deforestation (“Forest Monitoring and Fire Regime in South Sudan,” January 2015). Satellite imagery reports revealed that the radius of deforestation is increasing as refugees are required to journey further and further away from camps in search of biomass for woodfuel and construction materials. The influx of refugees has greatly increased pressure on the limited natural resources such as forest cover, land and water resources. The continued need has aggravated tension between the refugees and the host community which pressure is further extended to the surrounding environment. Women and youths are at greater risk of exploitation not only as they enter more remote areas in search of; building materials, fuel and edible forest products; but the unchecked clearance of vegetation such as forest trees, shrubs, reeds and grasses, has increased the risk of environmental disasters in the area. Recently, an increase in the demand for charcoal with the main market being in Renk has significantly led to increased production in Maban putting further stress to the environment, with unrestricted tree cutting.

In addition to the above, the protracted political instability still ongoing in the Blue Nile state in Sudan, is indicative that the refugees are unlikely to return in the near future. Their presence, including that of the humanitarian organizations and other support actors means continued encroachment on the environment through activities that are currently being implemented. There is therefore need to establish the level of encroachment on environmental resources by the refugee presence and thereafter redesign the programme approaches where necessary to support environmental sustainability in livelihoods and other sector engagements, 

To achieve this and in line with the UNHCR Environmental Guidelines (2005), Relief International and UNHCR seeks to conduct an environmental impact assessment, to analyze the impact of refugee settlements on the environment, establishing the extent of environmental degradation in settled areas and suggesting the way forward on the management of natural resources in these refugee hosting areas. Given that the cause of natural resource degradation is linked to project implementation across various sectors, the assessment will also examine the impact (current and potential) of different sectors on the environment in the refugee hosting areas, identifying options for mitigating and/or optimizing these impacts.

2.    OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSESSMENT

The overall objective of the assessment is to analyze the current and potential impact of project activities and refugee settlement in Maban county, on the environment and propose viable alternative or mitigation measures within the framework of the UNHCR Environmental Guidelines (2005) and alternatives to sustainable development using the UNHCR South Sudan National Livelihoods strategy (2016-2018) and UNHCR’s global strategy for livelihoods (2014-2018).

2.1. Specific Objectives

• Identify and evaluate the impacts and effects of refugee settlement in regard to exploitation of natural resources including; forest vegetative cover such as plants and trees, water sources and land;
• Develop an environmental management and/or action plan to ensure that humanitarian actions in regards to the refugee operation are environmentally sound and sustainable and that any environmental consequences are recognized early in the project cycle and taken into account in project designs.
• Develop a clear pathway to supporting environment-sensitive livelihoods activities that are economically viable yet environmentally sustainable for the refugees and their hosting populations.
• To propose mitigation measures for the potential significant adverse environmental impacts and safety risks.

3.    EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE ASSESSMENT:

• Provide an overview of the existent projects and their significant impact on the environment (natural resource and livelihoods) in the refugee hosting areas in Maban. The consultant should be able to propose mitigation measures in each sector implementation taking into account any constraints that may be faced in rolling out these measures.
• Description of the key environmental aspects and project–environment interactions that should be addressed in the EIA paying particular attention to the direct and/or indirect impacts that are likely to be the most significant, considering the sensitivity of the environment, the pressures resulting from the projects and the expectations of the stakeholders.
• A rapid conflict analysis of the environmental actions that impact conflict trends-past and current conflict trends.
• Propositions of alternative strategies and viable activities linked to sustainable livelihoods. These strategies should also offer sustainable solutions for the preservation and regeneration of natural resources in the refugee camps and refugee hosting areas.
• Produce a report with facts, figures and possible maps validated by the indicators.
• Develop an Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan (EMMP).
• A stakeholders meeting to present a brief of initial findings of the entire assessment and discuss specific sector recommendations.
• Final report with findings of the entire EIA in two hard copies and a soft copy on memory drive.