Service Contract No 2007 / 147-446 Strategic ... - Swaziland

5 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE NAS5.1 IntroductionThe key issues of concern were identified in the scoping phase and validated through thestakeholders’ workshop. Key Aspects are categorised as ‘High Priority’, ‘Medium Priority’ and‘Low Priority’.High Priority AspectsKey Aspect 1. Water availability/Climate changeKey Aspect 2. Long-term social and environmental sustainability of small-cane growersKey Aspect 3. Loss of biodiversity due to land-take for sugar cane expansionKey Aspect 4. Risk of HIV/AIDS associated with the sugar cane industry, particularly inrelation smallholder irrigation schemesMedium Priority AspectsKey Aspect 5. Emission of POPs from sugar cane burning and socio-economicimplications of green cane harvestingKey Aspect 6. Water pollution from agricultural run-off/monitoring of water qualityLow Priority AspectsKey Aspect 7. Regulation of effluent dischargesKey Aspect 8. Regulation of atmospheric emissionsThe sections below explore in more detail the environmental baseline associated to the keyaspects identified, including cause-effect relationships, trends, expected state of theenvironment in absence of the NAS and expected effects of the NAS on the key aspects. Asthe NAS was prepared in 2006 and some of the measures it foresees have already beenimplemented, or are imminent, the ‘no implementation of the NAS’ scenario is not relevant forsome key aspects.The analyses provided are the bases for identifying recommendations to enhance theenvironmental performance of the NAS. Figure 28 and Figure 29 (Annex 1) show – in theform of Leopold-type matrices - the areas in the sugar sector that are having an impact onthe environment (environmental performance of the sugar sector), as well as the potentialimpacts of implementing the NAS.Figures 6-10 below present – in the form of flow diagrams - a synthesis of the key causeeffectrelationships between NAS components and the environment (including its socioeconomicdimension), showing the main contextual aspects that have an incidence ondetermining impact significance, and highlighting areas through which these key aspectscould most effectively be addressed in the context of the NAS and EC support. Thesediagrams primarily address the high- and medium-priority aspects.Notice in the discussions below that the headlines for the key aspects addressed in thisreport do not match exactly those in the scoping report. The reason is that some of the keyaspects were clustered to allow a more effective and focused analysis.RDMU (Strategic Environmental Assessment of the National Adaptation Strategy) - Page 28