EIAs and Environmental Protection: Evidence from the mining sector, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The paper estimates contribution of Environmental Impact Assessment studies (EIAs) as conventionally practiced, towards environmental protection, given the questionable environmental image of the mining sector. Results reveal that impact prediction models used in EIAs underestimates the actual environmental impacts observed during mining both in terms of identification and their likely level of occurrence. The paper therefore argues that using static and linear EIAs to protect the environment may be necessary for procedural purposes but not sufficient enough for the substantive dimension of environmental protection since several environmental impacts exist unmonitored as a result of underestimation generic with EIAs models. The paper therefore argues that, for EIAs to be substantive, an evaluation suffix in the name of follow-up quarterly reports should be added to the EIA process to capture missed and possibly overstated environmental impacts for purposes of building continuity into the project approval, implementation and operational stages.