Environmental impact assessment in Southeast Asia: Fact and fiction?

Despite the early introduction of mandatory environmental impact assessment (ETA) in the planning systems of many countries in the Southeast Asia region successes in protecting the natural environment have been limited. Is this the failure of the EIA itself due to the use of an inappropriate western based model or is it more related to a lack of political will and implementation weakness? The facts indicate that the EIA is often used as a means to an end rather than as a beneficial planning tool in itself. The fiction relates to the impressive array of legislation and sophisticated processes on paper that are often ineffective in practice. This paper attempts to highlight the problem areas and suggests other techniques and strategies that may be introduced to solve them.