ID: 1885
Presenting Author: Luciana Guedes Pereira
Session: 653 - Biodiversity Impact Assessment: Information Disclosure, Risk Identification, and Legal Regulation
Status: pending
This paper examines how integrating stakeholder participation into biodiversity assessment within EIA enhances ecological outcomes, social legitimacy, and governance through culturally adapt
Integrating biodiversity conservation into Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requires not only robust ecological data but also meaningful stakeholder participation tailored to regional socio-cultural and political contexts. This paper explores how stakeholder engagement can be effectively integrated across the key phases of biodiversity assessment—data collection, analysis, impact evaluation, mitigation design, and participatory monitoring. It critically reviews best practices in stakeholder participation through literature analysis and case studies from the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Europe, identifying effective approaches and shared challenges. Findings suggest that participatory biodiversity conservation depends strongly on culturally rooted values, collaboration with traditional communities, and multi-level stakeholder engagement to enhance ecological outcomes, social legitimacy, and long-term governance. Building on these insights, the paper proposes an operational framework to strengthen biodiversity-focused stakeholder engagement within the EIA process, using an ecosystem services-based approach as a common communication platform. By combining participatory tools such as mapping, citizen science, co-design workshops, with culturally adapted communication and digital innovation, project teams can foster transparency, resilience, and alignment with international best practices.
PhD in Biogeography with 20 years'experience leading EIA studies in South America, Middle East and Europe.
Coauthor 1: Paulo Sousa
Coauthor 2: Ana Catarina Melo
Coauthor 3: Bruna Gonçalves
Coauthor 4: Francisco Ribeiro
Coauthor 5: Shaun Pearce