Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA)#
Q 7 - How to protect deep Vulnerable marine Ecosystems (VMEs) (strategies, measures, etc.)?
Q 25 - How to integrate the process of MPA designation or extension in MSP?
Q 39 - What criteria are available to assess sustainability of maritime uses?
Q 41 - What are the main objectives and elements of monitoring programs for MPAs?
Description#
CEA is the process of systematically analysing and assessing cumulative environmental change. The purpose of CEA is to ensure that the full range of consequences of actions is considered.
Cumulative impacts can occur over different temporal and spatial scales by interacting, combining and compounding so that the overall effect often exceeds the simple sum of previous effects.
The spatial scale can be local, regional or global, whilst the frequency or temporal scale includes past, present and future impacts on a specific environment or region. Cumulative effects can simply be defined as the total impact that a series of developments, either present, past or future, will have on the environment within a specific region over a particular period of time.
Source: DEAT (2004) Cumulative Effects Assessment, Integrated Environmental Management, Information Series 7, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), Pretoria.