Considering the Environment
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA)
CSR Developments has produced an ESIA that meets both Ghanaian and World Bank / International Finance Corporation social and environmental standards. Meeting this commitment has been a major and exciting process involving a large number of stakeholders.
Conducting the Project
Environmental Resources Management (ERM), one of the world’s leading environmental consultancies, directed the ESIA with the support of over a dozen Ghanaian experts in fields as diverse as water quality and archaeology. Specialists from the Volta Basin Research Project at the University of Ghana, an organisation that has been studying the lake for over 40 years, have also provided substantial contributions to the ESIA.
The ESIA report carefully assesses potential social and environmental impacts of the proposed operations. It also provides specific measures to minimize and mitigate these impacts. The ESIA takes a precautionary approach to its impact assessment and includes extensive monitoring during operations to evaluate mitigation measures.
The ESIA, through the Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), will also help establish world-class social and environmental management and performance practices during the many years of operations.
Public Consultation
A critical aspect of the ESIA is intensive public consultation, which the company is committed to continuing throughout the life of the project. The consultation work undertaken by CSR Developments with the communities around the Afram Arm of the lake began months in advance of the ESIA to help the company better understand how communities rely on the lake and what concerns they may have about the project.
Meetings, focus groups and interviews have been held with nearly 1,000 community members to-date. CSR Developments also has held over 70 meetings with organisations, including NGOs, interested in protecting the lake and supporting the communities around it.
Scoping Report
In late 2007, the company completed the ESIA Scoping Report in which the ESIA study team undertook a preliminary impact assessment, and identified potential mitigation measures. The team sat down with a large number of stakeholder organizations, as well as community members, to get their insights into the Report and the proposed project.
The Scoping Report and stakeholder inputs have now been incorporated in the full ESIA. Extensive baseline surveys have also been undertaken on, for example, community livelihoods and fisheries.
The preparation of the first world-class ESIA for submerged timber harvesting constitutes a milestone for many reasons, but it is only one component of the company’s vision and effort to support sustainable development around the Volta Lake.
