In section A of decision VI/7, paragraph 3, the Conference of the Parties requested the Executive Secretary to inter alia prepare, in collaboration with relevant organizations, in particular the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA), proposals for further development and refinement of the guidelines on integrating biodiversity considerations in impact assessment, particularly to incorporate all stages of the environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment processes taking into account the ecosystem approach (particularly principles 4, 7 and 8).

On the basis of this guidance, the experiences and case studies made available and the proposals for further development and refinement of the guidelines contained in document UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/9/INF/18, an electronic discussion forum
as well as review comments provided by a number of experts and practicioners attending the IAIA ’05 (13 May - 3 June 2005, Boston, USA), the Secretariat, in collaboration with IAIA and the Netherlands Commission for Impact Assessment, has prepared the following three documents:

Guidelines on biodiversity-inclusive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA);

Guidelines on biodiversity-inclusive Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA);

An information document containing additional material to support the guidelines on EIA and SEA.

In preparation of the consideration of this item at the forthcoming eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD, you are invited to review these documents and send your views and observations to the Secretariat (secretariat@cbd.int) to be received by 30 September 2005 at the latest.
You may also wish to consider adding relevant material to the case studies database.