social, economic en ecological evaluation of the polder Breebaart
In August of 2006 Witteveen+Bos and Alterra started with the social, economic and ecological evaluation of the polder Breebaart.
The aim of this evaluation is to gain insight in the social, economic en ecological impacts of an overtopping resistant dike compared to a traditional dike in combination with different forms of land use in the hinterland. At the same time this pilot study should provide support the decision makers of the province of Groningen to find solutions for the spatial development of their coastal zones. The coastal zones will have to deal with a rising sea level and a lowering ground level caused by the exploration of gas.
To obtain useful results for the whole coastal zone of Groningen, impacts will be evaluated for different forms of land use:
1. traditional land use;
2. agriculture with saltwater intrusion; 3. agriculture on saline soils;
4. conservation of nature; 5. nature with recreation; 6. housing.
The original type of land use in the polder Breebaart was agriculture. In 2001 a reduced tidal re-gime was introduced in the polder Breebaart. Conservation of nature combined with recreation has been the land use type since. This means that the impact assessment for this type of land use is an ex post evaluation, whereas the impact assessments for the other types of land use are ex-ante evaluations. This also means that the original situation no longer exists. Therefore the original situation is represented by means of an adjacent polder. The specific landscape of each type of land use will be designed in a workshop with all stakeholders.
For the evaluation of the polder Breebaart the 3E-method (Economy, Ecology and Emotion) will be applied. The 3E-method generates a complete and comprehensive overview of the all positive and negative impacts that a project has from three different point of views: a social, economic and ecological point of view. The three point of views will be generated in three parallel evaluations. To determine the E of Emotion, the social evaluation will measure the change in perception. Two elements are crucial: to measure perception and to measure change. By means of questionnaires using photo manipulations indicators such as attractiveness, attachment, existence value of na-ture, safety perception and leisure activities, will be measured. TNS-NIPO is contracted to do the questionnaires.
To determine the E of Economy the economic evaluation will consist of a Societal Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA). In a SCBA positive and negative welfare impacts are identified by valuing them in a monetary unit. Actually a SCBA is an analysis of impacts on welfare. Impacts on welfare can be the result of physical changes (for example change in area with nature, change in length of the dike) but can also be the result of changes in the ecological value or a change in perception. Therefore the results of the social and ecological evaluation are of significance to the economic evaluation.
To determine the E of Ecology the ecological evaluation will value the ecological quality of the future situation. The valuation of ecological quality demands an ecocentric (directed on the intrin-sic value of nature) systems approach taking into account abiotic as well as biotic factors on sev-eral scale levels. The method comprises the valuation of impacts on biotopes, ecotopes, biodi-versity and the ecological functioning of the (water) system.
in the last phase of the project, the results of the three evaluations will be combined. The final result will consist of an overview of impacts per type of land use, for example as presented below with imaginary figures:
Overtopping resistant dike Traditional dike strengthening
traditional land use housing
nature with recreation agriculture on saline soil
nature conservation traditional land use
housing
nature with recreation agriculture on saline soil agriculture with seepage
w ith ou t p ro je ct sit ua tion wi th ou t pro ject s ituat ion
Impact overview
sociology economy ecology nature conservationagriculture with seepage
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