Approach to Appraisal • Describing the impacts • Using ASTs • Identifying the impacts • Valuing the impacts • Obtaining a new value

Identifying the impacts

Introduction

The ASTs give a comprehensive list of functions and services that could be affected by a decision to manage, restore or realign a site. Some of these functions and services will be directly affected (i.e. by one of the aims of the project) or indirectly affected (i.e. from secondary (knock-on) effects). It is unlikely, however, that all functions and services will be affected on any one site, although the number of functions and services affected is likely to increase from management actions through restoration actions, to managed realignment and the provision of compensatory habitat. The functions and services most likely to be affected by the different decisions can be viewed here. This table is designed to give an indication of the type of effects that may occur; site specific impacts should also be taken into consideration.

For management and restoration actions, four different approaches are given to reflect the different reasons why management and/or restoration actions may be taken. These are:

• Conservation: to maintain or improve the conservation value of the site.
• Amenity: to maintain or improve the appearance of the site and its human uses.
• Recreation: to maintain or improve recreational use of the site.
• Flood defence: to maintain or improve the site as part of the flood or coastal defences covering, for example wave attenuation.

These reasons are unlikely to be completely independent, such that a decision to manage a site for conservation purposes may also affect recreational use of the site. The impacts shown in the table, therefore, are given as a guide only and consideration should be given to wider impacts, as appropriate.

Steps in the appraisal process

The first step in the appraisal is to describe the baseline situation using the AST appropriate to the decision being made. This is an important step as description of the baseline can often highlight areas where action is required and identify where little is known about a site. Each of the options can then be readily compared against the baseline to determine if a change is likely to occur.

The second step is then to complete an AST for each option, beginning with whether the options would cause an impact to arise in the context of each of the functions and services. Where this is the case, a ‘Y’ should be entered into the appropriate column of the AST and the impacts described. The impacts should be described in words, supported by numbers, where available. These numbers may relate to area affected, numbers of species or individuals, etc. Any predictions and uncertainty associated with the impacts should also be recorded. Where the option would not result in any impacts, it is sufficient to enter ‘N’ into the appropriate column (explanation of why this is the case can be included if required).

Once all of the impacts have been described in words and numbers, there are three possible actions:

• The AST is used to record the potential impacts of one proposed option, which can then proceed, with the completed AST used to monitor actual effects compared with predicted effects;
• A decision can be made as to which is the preferred option or that the option can proceed (e.g. benefits outweigh the costs); or
• Where it is not possible to make a decision as to the preferred option, or whether the benefits outweigh the costs, the appraisal should move onto monetary valuation of the impacts.