003-i. Advice on ToR: SEA for Rio Paute catchment - Ecuador

The NCEA issued an advice on Terms of Reference (ToR) for an SEA for the Rio Paute catchment. It advised on the contents of this study as well as on the approach to undertake it.

Advisory reports and other documents

Significant details

The Ecuadorian organization Centro de Reconversión Económica del Azuay, Cañar y Morona Santiago (CREA) requested support from the Dutch government. This support would be used for the preparation of an SEA for the Rio Paute catchment. This area is near La Josefina, where the earthquake of 29 March 1993 occurred. The goal of the SEA would be to understand environmental problems in the area and to define strategies for reducing them.

The Dutch government asked the NCEA to advise on Terms of Reference (ToR) for this SEA. The NCEA then established a working group, paid a site visit, and spoke to various stakeholders. Subsequently an advice was issued in which the NCEA asserted that the following aspects require major attention in the SEA:

• Geological instability, potentially aggravated by disturbances due to human activities, should be the point of departure for the problem analysis;
• Other environmental problems without direct link to natural hazards should also be taken into account (e.g. effects of industrial development, exploitation of mines and urban development);
• Socio-economic issues (e.g. population growth, migration, poverty) and institutional issues (policy distortions, legal bottlenecks, etc.) should also be described.

The NCEA's advice also provides suggestions for a strategic and methodological approach to this study. This is based on the following procedure and outline of the SEA report:

• General overview/points of departure;
• In-depth analysis of existing situation and trends;
• Description of salient problem categories;
• Development of strategies;
• Weighing of alternatives to overcome problems;
• Description of remaining knowledge gaps.

Parties involved

Members of the working group

Chair: Jan-Willem Kroon
Technical secretary: Ineke Steinhauer

Proponent and Component Authority

Further details

Country: Ecuador

Last modified: 02 Apr 2019