Strategic Environmental Assessment
The Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) of the Scottish Forestry Strategy (SFS) has followed the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's "Practical Guide to the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive". In the later stages the Scottish Government’s SEA Tool Kit was also a valuable source of guidance. The SEA of the Scottish Forestry Strategy is taking place as follows:Stage A - Selection of an appropriate consultant (Land Use Consultants were appointed on 12 September 2005);
- Prepare context (i.e. identifying other relevant plans, programmes and environmental protection objectives);
- Collect baseline information;
- Identify environmental problems/opportunities;
- Develop SEA objectives; and
- Consult on the scope of the SEA (see below).
A scoping report on the SFS was submitted to the consultation authorities (Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and Historic Scotland) on 11 September 2005. Scottish Environment LINK was also consulted informally. Their responses, all of which were favourable, were received on 15 December 2005. Stage B Stage B was concluded in early January 2006. This stage: - tested the Scottish Forestry Strategy objectives against the SEA objectives;
- assessed strategic alternatives;
- predicted and evaluated effects;
- identified & mitigated any adverse effects; and
- propose measures to monitor the implementation of the SFS.
Stage C: preparation of an Environmental Report The Environmental Report presented the predicted environmental effects of the SFS, including alternatives. This stage was completed in mid-February 2006. The full report, a summary and appendices are available below for downloading. Please note: the full report and appendices are large files containing images and will take time to download on slower internet connections. Stage D: consultation The general public and the formal consultation authorities were consulted on the draft SFS and its accompanying Environmental Report. The second consultation period lasted for 12 weeks, from 6 March until 29 May 2006. More infomation on the second consultation period. Stage E: post-adoption statement This stage assessed the need for any significant changes to the draft strategy and provided information on how the Environmental Report and consultees’ opinions were taken in to account. This followed the launch of the reviewed Scottish Forestry Strategy on 9 October 2006 and included details about monitoring the effects of implementing the Strategy. Read the full Post Adoption Statement (PDF 405k). The pathfinder project Forestry Commission Scotland volunteered to include the Scottish Forestry Strategy in the Scottish Government’s Pathfinder Project, which aimed to examine Strategic Environmental Assessment practice in Scotland and to identify where, and how, practical improvements could be made.
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