Ecological Impact Assessment Level 2 (Scotland)

A two-day practical course aimed at those practitioners who have existing experience of undertaking EcIAs and wish to develop those skills further. The focus will be on delivering teaching through a combination of Powerpoint presentations and workshops, with attendees working through a variety of relatively straightforward case study examples. This course will cover all aspects of EcIA, including the basic concepts of scoping and baseline (these areas are covered in more detail in the Level 1 EcIA course). Attendees will therefore be expected to have some knowledge of the legislation and policy drivers behind EcIA, and practical experience of undertaking ecological surveys, although do not require to have undertaken EcIA itself before. This course includes a brief session on how to present the outcomes of EcIAs in a report (this is covered in more detail in the CIEEM Report Writing course). More difficult or advanced elements of EcIA are covered in the Level 3 course. Note that this course focuses on legislation and policy in Scotland, but the principles are applicable in any UK nation or Ireland.

Ecologists with basic experience of EcIA or knowledge of the process. You do not necessarily have had to have done EcIA before. Project managers would also benefit from this course, and I run similar for this audience for clients.

Some experience of ecology or how it relates to projects (development, forestry, land management etc) is needed. Ideally attendees will have some familiarity with the CIEEM EcIA guidelines.

• Improved understanding of what EcIA is, the main legal and policy drivers behind it, as well as the main steps/stages and how these fit with EIA.
• Improved understanding of the terms ‘scoping’, ‘Zone of Influence’ and ‘baseline’ and how these relate to the EcIA process.
• Ability to identify important ecological features following the CIEEM EcIA guidelines’ geographical scale.
• Ability to characterise impacts and determine significance of effects following the CIEEM guidelines’ approach.
• Understanding of the terms mitigation, compensation and enhancement, and where these fit in the EcIA process.
• Basic understanding of how an EcIA should be presented in a report following CIEEM’s current guidance on Ecological Report Writing.