*Image Courtesy of Andrew Speer

• Appropriate Assessment (AA) /Natura Impact Statement (NIS)
  Establishes whether a plan or project can be implemented without damaging a Natura 2000 site. AA is required under Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds (“Birds Directive”) and Council Directive 92/432/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (“Habitats Directive”). The aim of this process is to avoid adverse effects of plans, programmes and projects on Natura 2000 sites and thereby maintain the integrity of the Natura 2000 network and its features.
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
  The primary objective of the EIA Directive is to ensure that projects which are likely to have significant effects on the environment are subject to an assessment of their likely impacts. EIA is required under Directive 97/11/EC amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (“EIA Directive”). To ensure that planning decisions are made with full knowledge of a project’s likely significant environmental effects and that any negative effects are prevented, reduced or offset, while positive effects are enhanced. We deal with ecological environmental and agricultural component of the assessment