戦略アセスメントの基礎となる生態系評価

抄録

In order to be effective, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) must be implemented as early as possible in the planning process, before a detailed project blueprint has been drawn up. The assessment should be able to cope with immediate as well as cumulative effects of the proposed project, and identify the types of environments desired and various alternative solutions for achieving these. To meet these goals, the assessment must be able to quickly and effectively evaluate environments over a wide area, concentrating not only on the individual environments but on their interrelationships as well. To accomplish this mission, SEA must rely heavily on readily available digital data and GIS analyses. In Japan, various environmental data have become available in recent years. These include national land data, and vegetation and faunal distribution data produced by the Environment Agency and prefecture and municipal governments. In this research, data from previous studies and available digital data are combined with GIS analyses to develop an SEA system for use in Japan. This system is shown to be effective in evaluating the cumulative, wide-area environmental effects of a project, taking into consideration the interrelations among various environments within the target area.