Ineke Steinhauer
Technical secretary
In June 2014, the NCEA started a 2-year cooperation capacity-building programme to improve the Government of Zanzibar's expertise on EIA and SEA. The programme focused initially on the oil and gas sector but later on include other sectors as well.
Significant details
Process and activities
Exploration for offshore oil and gas reserves was about to start in Zanzibar, but the government felt that it lacked the expertise to exploit such reserves in a sustainable manner. Moreover, private sector parties aiming to be involved in exploration want to do this in an environmentally friendly manner but felt that Zanzibar's EIA and SEA procedures were insufficient to guarantee this. The NCEA therefore cooperates with Zanzibar's Environmental Management Authority (ZEMA) and the Department of Environment (DoE) which are responsible for EIA and SEA. After receipt of a request for assistance in December 2013, the NCEA conducted the following activities:
- A needs assessment study in Zanzibar in January 2014;
- Drafting and agreement on a project plan (see attached 1-page project summary);
- A mapping of the EIA system in June 2014 (see attached mapping report);
- Workshops on EIA regulation, EIA review and streamlining of EIA and other approval processes (see attached workshop reports);
- An awareness raising workshop on SEA (see report).
- Advice on EIA regulation, with a focus on screening and financing of governmental EIA tasks (see attached reports);
- Workshop on public participation in EIA/SEA (see attached report).
- Work sessions on the draft and final EIA regulations;
- Final EIA awareness raising seminars: 2 days in Unguja and 1 day in Pemba (see attached report 'Making EIA work in Zanzibar')
The cooperation project will be finalized in October 2016.