International fisheries consulting related to approval of funding for major infrastructure projects

Experienced AFS biologists may be called upon to be part of a team of Independent Environmental Consultants to international financial lenders for the review of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) of proposed major infrastructure construction and operation in several countries around the world. Most scopes of work have the objective of providing professional advice to the lenders for aspects related to aquatic natural resources and fishing components of the project, in order to assure the proposed project will be sustainable. The assignments typically include the following in-field and office tasks: Task 1: Preliminary review of the project ESIA documentation prior to the Team Site visit; Task 2: Team site visit to assess fish resources and affected stakeholders. Task 3: Contribution to the draft and final Environmental and Social Due Diligence Report after the site visit, in collaboration with all team members. This presentation will review the biologist's role in interpreting and reporting on relevant World Bank, International Finance Corporation, and Espoo standards and associated guidelines to assure the project's ESIA and associated Management Plans are compliant with the aforementioned standards. Several example projects will be presented (Peru, Mauritania, Baltic Sea, Papua-New Guinea).