Roads of the Caribbean: regional analysis from Environmental Impact Assessments in Colombia

Abstract

Road infrastructure produces several impacts on the environment. In the Colombian Caribbean region, the growing road infrastructure threatens systems equilibrium in diverse and not well-known ways. Functional limitations on the administrative tools available in Colombian legislation to manage infrastructure impacts mean that an overall assessment of the interconnected regional ecosystems falls out of scope. In this study, Environmental Impact Assessments of eight (8) road construction projects were evaluated to determine how the large-scale problems of hydrologic and ecologic connectivity, or landscape fragmentation, are considered. The scientific literature is critically examined to identify possible unseen problems and future challenges relating to road construction in the Caribbean. The results suggest that Environmental Impact Assessments for each project establish typified or preset management measures, focus on construction processes, and ignore accumulative and residual effects. Thus, the study recommends integrated analysis for future projects that includes a detailed understanding of the alterations to regional landscape and water systems.