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|  | Sustainable development driven environment & resource management : a closer look at impact assessment processes
Author: Rajalingam, Adrian
Institution: University of the South Pacific.
Award: M.Com
Subject: Environmental management -- Fiji, Environmental policy -- Fiji, Sustainable development -- Environmental aspects -- Fiji
Date: 2014
Call No.: Pac GE 320 .F5 R352 2014
BRN: 1195659
Copyright:40-60% of this thesis may be copied without the authors written permission
Abstract: The applications of the principles of sustainable land development practices and the legislative framework that balances competing impacts and promotes environmental protection in Fiji are now more wide-ranging in their scope and coverage. The enactment of the Environmental Management Act 2005 (EMA) has brought about a more manageable and relevant policy through which all government authorities can monitor and address impacts with particular emphasis on environmental impact assessments, waste disposal, pollution control and perhaps most important, information collection on all facets of development impacts at project level, as well as national and regional settings. The various line ministries, Department of Environment (DoE), Director Town and Country Planning (DTCP), municipal councils and other approving authorities can now coordinate, formulate and implement plans and strategies cooperatively under the umbrella of EMA. This collaboration is designed to strengthen information collection and data sharing which will help ensure that roles and responsibilities do not overlap. The way forward is to synthesize and align various vetting processes which will in turn help government departments make informed decisions based on accurate data and relevant information. Impact planning sustainable development is no longer simply a distant theory: sustainable development concepts have been adapted to form an integral part of Fiji’s socio-economic development and regulation mechanisms responding to climate change, regionalization, population increase and escalating demands on already scarce resources. This thesis investigates the range of preconditions that might be necessary for Fiji to effectively implement the mechanisms involved in balancing the social, economic and environmental scales of the sustainable development paradigm. The mechanisms that are designed to bring about this balance will form the core of this thesis: these are the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Integrated Environmental Assessment (IEA) processes and the various sustainable resource management practices of line ministries responsible for utilization and management of specific resources. A case study on the Lami Rubbish dump is used to illustrate and test the dynamics of a new wave of sustainable development policy implementation in Fiji and the Pacific Islands region.
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