Upon request of the Mozambican government, through the Ministry for Coordination of Environmental Affairs (at the time MICOA), the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) advised, through various 'advices of the secretariat', on the process and process-related Terms of Reference (ToR) for an Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the development of an integrated spatial plan for the Mozambican coastal zone. These advisory reports were issued between May 2008 and November 2009. Subsequently, in November 2012, MICOA asked the NCEA to review the quality of this SEA, with the aim to improve the final SEA report and to move forward towards an integrated planning process for the coast.
Significant details
In May 2008, the NCEA commented on the ToR for an SEA for coastal areas in Mozambique. Various stakeholders in coastal areas in Mozambique collaboratively decided that it would be useful to carry out an SEA for coastal planning. ToR were prepared for this SEA and distributed for review among various institutions. The National Directorate of Environmental Impact Assessment of MICOA asked the NCEA to provide comments on these ToR. The NCEA issued an advice of the secretariat (in Portuguese) to fulfil this request. Comments were mainly positive; the NCEA concluded that an SEA with this scope would considerably strengthen the district planning process.
In 2009, the NCEA also advised on the first phase of an integrated planning/SEA process for coastal development. MICOA had adopted a modular approach for its coastal spatial planning process, which was combined with an integrated SEA process. The NCEA, therefore, proposed an approach that focused on the first phase of this planning/SEA process, in particular to:
- Establish a 'planning process/SEA management team';
- Provide training to this team on various specified topics;
- Consider stakeholder involvement as cross-cutting element of the planning process, instead of as a separate module;
- Define the planning horizon and study area for the planning/SEA process;
- And recommendations on the management team, baseline studies, and the ecosystem services approach.
The NCEA also advised on a call for consultant proposals for Mozambique's joint planning/SEA process for coastal development. More specifically, MICOA asked the NCEA to reformulate its draft call for consultant proposals for specific tasks that needed to be accomplished during this joint process.
In 2012, the NCEA reviewed the SEA for Mozambique's coastal zones. After finalisation of the SEA report, the NCEA was requested to review its quality, with a focus on the sections concerning scenario development and directives and recommendations. The NCEA agreed with MICOA to issue an advice of the secretariat (desk review) instead of a full-fledged review, due to the limited time assigned for this request.