Cumulative Effect Assessment

The concept of cumulative effect assessment (CEA) as a theory and tool for the quantitative assessment of cumulative effects (impacts) on multifunctional wetlands was furthered in view of a an inherent and chronic lack of environmental data sets in the vast majority of ecosystems in the developing Asia that is a major stumbling block on the way of CEA. Whereas expert opinion as a CEA method has been long recognized, a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) as another important method was largely overlooked despite its strong validity under the circumstances when the required environmental data sets are not available. The gaps due to the lack of parametric data hence call for further development of PRA to complement with the CEA tool. The need to overcome the shortage of data sets is thought to be particularly important due to the fact that the developing world comprises most of the world’s ecosystems, biodiversity and human population.