The importance of impacts appraisal
This section of Methuselah addresses monitoring requirements that are outside of the Site Management remit; it identifies outcomes of greenspace establishment and management and monitors them to demonstrate the wider impact and, therefore, value of greenspaces.
The opportunities for monitoring and evaluation of greenspace and how these interlink.
Shows the inter-relationship between the distinct monitoring opportunities that exist at a greenspace following establishment. Impacts appraisal may be a stand-alone exercise or incorporate data collected during routine site management, community engagement and environmental conservation work to evaluate the wider impacts of the greenspace.
It will assess:
- How effectively greenspace is delivering against it’s objectives and targets and how improvements may be achieved
- How effectively greenspace is delivering against wider policy objectives and targets
- The functions and impacts afforded by the greenspace locally and regionally
- The sustainability of the greenspace (e.g. using sustainability indicators)
- How this and other greenspaces can be more effective
- How delivery of outputs translate into fulfilment of the project aims and objectives (e.g. desired outcomes).
An example
The aim of a land regeneration-greenspace establishment project may be to “improve the natural environment”. Objectives under-pinning this aim may include ‘regenerate land to greenspace’ and ‘establish woodland habitat’.
The flow diagram below shows how the differences in output and outcomes relate to a greenspace and the wider benefits it may provide and, therefore, why both must be considered within the Impacts Appraisal section.
Flow diagram explanation:
- The criteria used to evaluate success in achieving this aim and its objectives could include area of land regenerated and habitat provision (number, size, type of habitats created).
- An alternative evaluation criterion for the aim ‘improve the natural environment’ is biodiversity, as a mark of successfully establishing a habitat is the occurrence of the biodiversity typically associated with that habitat (e.g. birds).
- These different evaluation criteria are related: creation of a habitat is an output of the greenspace whilst biodiversity is an outcome (a consequence) of the woodland creation.
- Monitoring both outputs and outcomes presents a clearer picture of impacts of the greenspace and it’s effectiveness at achieving the aims for which it was established.
