For over a decade GEMS have conducted Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Initial Environmental Examinations (IEE) in an expanding range of sectors including the energy (oil and gas industry, power plants, LNG Terminals etc.), manufacturing industries (e.g. pharmaceutical, mineral fertilizers, textile, paper, food processing etc.), infrastructure (roads, highway’s buildings etc.), ports and harbors’, tourism, aquaculture and fisheries.
In most of our working sectors, the majority of industrial development takes place in areas where environmental and socio-economic sensitivities are high because of the abundance of natural resources, easy access and dependence of the local communities.
The EIA process requires a review of national and international legislation, an in-depth understanding of the proposed development, environmental baseline studies, stakeholder consultations, impact assessment and the development of an environmental management plan (EMP) to minimize negative impacts and maximize positive effects. An EIA is required at an early stage in the project cycle to obtain the environmental permit from authorities that allows the development to proceed. However, more and more GEMS is providing input to the conceptual and detailed design phases of the project cycle. This allows potential environmental issues to be identified early, which enables issues to design out rather than being mitigated at a later stage. For less complex projects wherever applicable we produce an initial environmental examination (IEE) sufficient to obtain the necessary permission on behalf of the client as per the legal requirements.
Main Areas of Expertise
• Coastal, Urban and Residential
• Airports and Roads
• Heavy and Light Industries
Environmental Monitoring, Observation and Auditing
Environmental monitoring during the construction or implementation phase of a project is a common legal requirement. For ecologically sensitive areas, monitoring according to an environmental management plan (EMP) may be necessary throughout the project cycle, especially if the effects of a development on the surrounding environment are significant or uncertain.
Our services for environmental monitoring includes data collection, analysis and interpretation, and often covers a diversity of assets including air quality, noise, groundwater quality, fresh and seawater quality, biological diversity and habitat health. These are compared with national and international standards, or put into a national or regional context by comparing them with data collected from elsewhere in the region.
In order to do this effectively it is necessary to understand the natural daily, seasonal and yearly changes in background levels of all measured parameters in order to explain the cause of any changes and attribute them either to natural fluctuations or to disturbance from the development. To facilitate this we are able to access long-term databases of limnology (freshwater ecology) and oceanographic (water temperature, currents, etc.) and meteorological data (wind, temperature, precipitation etc.) from the region.
The strength of environmental monitoring is the early detection of environmental damage, which can then be mitigated by effective management of its cause before significant environmental damage is caused. We have particular experience with long-term monitoring of project and as a result we have an extensive library of information as well as a strong working relationship with the relevant industries and government institutions.
Complementing our monitoring and observing skills is the experience that we have gained in conducting environmental audits to ensure compliance with permit conditions and national legislation.
Main Areas of Expertise
Coastal and Inland Development Impact Monitoring
Freshwater and Marine Fauna Observing
Oil and Gas E&P Monitoring
Port Monitoring
EIA Auditing
Industrial Auditing
Policy and Legislation Review
Baseline Studies and Habitat Mapping
Baseline studies are required to establish an environmental benchmark against which future change may be measured.
These studies often involve measurement of physical, chemical and biological parameters. Habitat maps are a useful tool to assist planning for a development and are essential for resource management purposes in and outside of the protected areas.
We have experience in surveying different types of ecosystems (including marine fauna, seaweed, mangroves and coral, as well as turtles, cetaceans, seabirds and other wildlife, terrestrial habitat including flora and fauna), sea and fresh water quality (including total suspended solids, turbidity, temperature, salinity, nutrients, heavy metals and a wide range of other pollutants), meteorology, air quality (polluting gases including NOx, SOx, CO, and particulates etc); noise levels, lux measurement.
Through microbiological analysis we provide in depth knowledge about varied variety of water and food samples such as drinking water, waste water, in food section cereals, meat including rough and finish products (cooked or uncooked); parameter to be analyzed in these items are total colony count, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, fecal streptococci and enterococci, E.coli, Staaph.aureus, Salmonella spps. Pseudomonas spps. and Yeast and Mold count.
Our surveying techniques are all conducted according to national and international standards and almost all chemical and biological analyses are performed at our own laboratories which are both locally and internationally certified.
Where necessary we consult experts for detailed determination of ecological results. We have in-house capability of mapping services and are using the latest image processing and GIS software. We add value ourselves with extensive ground-truthing and image interpretation. We are also experienced in gathering social and economic data through rapid and participatory rural appraisal that has the added benefits of improving awareness of the development among the local communities.
Main Areas of Expertise
Marine and Terrestrial Communities (flora & fauna)
