Review of Environmental Impact Assessment of Land Restitution

Sida is supporting the Ministry of Agriculture in Colombia for the project “Supporting the implementation of the victims’ land restitution policy, as part of the comprehensive land policy of the ministry agriculture and rural development 2011-2012”. In accordance with the project document and related assessment memo, an environmental analysis of the project was carried out in 2012, with the title “General assessment of the environmental impacts on the natural resources of the rural and urban sectors by the implementation of the policy of land restitution, based on projections of land restitution to the country".

ORGUT carried out a review of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), on behalf of Sida’s Helpdesk on Environment and Climate Change , which had been commissioned by the Swedish Embassy in Bogotá The review included assessing if the document met the requirements in the ToR and in Sida’s Guidelines for the Review of Environmental Impact Assessments, and providing suggestions on issues that Sida could discuss with the Colombian counterparts. Sida’s Helpdesk for Environment and Climate Change is commissioned by Sida to assist Sida staff in integrating environmental (including climate change and disaster risk reduction) perspectives into Swedish development cooperation. The Helpdesk gives support, on demand, by providing advice and strategic guidance on environmental integration at policy, program and project level. It also supports capacity building, development of tools and methods for environmental integration and dialogue concerning environmental issues. The Helpdesk is managed by Gothenburg Centre for Environment and Sustainability (GMV) and the Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences (SLU) in collaboration with ORGUT.