004-i. Advice on ToR: environmental profile of Shabwah

The NCEA advised on Terms of Reference (ToR) for the development of an environmental profile for the province of Shabwah. It introduced a step-wise approach to arrive at a common agreement on the preferred scenario for development of the area.

Advisory reports and other documents

Significant details

The government of the Republic of Yemen, supported by the Dutch government, proposed to develop an environmental profile of the province of Shabwah. The profile would provide insight into the potentials and limitations of natural resources. Local authorities could use this for strategic planning for sustainable development. The profile should therefore include scenarios for sustainable development and guidelines for concrete action.

The NCEA was asked to advise on Terms of Reference (ToR) for this environmental profile. In its advice, the NCEA made the concept of sustainable development operational. It also included a methodology and a set of indicators to enable an integrated study approach. The following central question was formulated for the study:

What are the potentials and constraints for a sustainable use of the natural resources and what are the scenarios for development with regard to sustainable development?

Seven steps were distinguished to execute the study:

• Inventory of the area's potential;
• Assessment of problems, causes and trends per sector;
• Comprehensive intersectoral analysis;
• Report presentation in a first workshop, aiming to select priority issues, pilot areas, and development aims;
• Execution of further studies to elaborate on selected problems in selected pilot areas;
• Development of three scenarios: a 'zero scenario', an 'ecological sustainability scenario' and a 'sustainable development scenario';
• Report presentation in a second workshop, to discuss scenarios and find consensus on the most desirable one.

Parties involved

Members of the working group

Chair: Dick de Zeeuw
Technical secretary: Arend Kolhoff

Proponent and Component Authority

Further details

Country: Yemen

Last modified: 11 Nov 2014