The present status of public participation in EIA particularly concerning biodiversity in West Bengal, India was studied. The issues raised in 50 public hearings were analyzed and chapters on biodiversity in 20 EIA reports were studied. Areas needing improvement were identified. Scientific literature was studied to gather best practices/concepts. It was observed that, despite all enabling legal provisions, public participation in EIA has not grown to its full potential. The discussion was mostly on jobs and benefits (and little on biodiversity impact). EIA reports did not provide any spatial information on biodiversity-rich/sensitive areas or impact on bio-resources that are used by people. We identified four pillars of effective public participation in EIA as: (i) institutional opportunity and conducive environment for participation; (ii) interest of local people to participate; (iii) capacity building of local people; and, (iv) support of clearance process. Specific recommendations under each are provided. A simple matrix for Biodiversity Impact Assessment and a list of components for the improvement of biodiversity, for use of local people, have been developed.

中文翻译：

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印度西孟加拉邦的公众参与生物多样性影响评估：现状和改进的途径

研究了公众参与环境影响评估的现状，特别是印度西孟加拉邦的生物多样性。对50场公开听证会中提出的问题进行了分析，并对20份环境影响评估报告中有关生物多样性的章节进行了研究。确定了需要改进的地方。研究了科学文献以收集最佳实践/概念。据指出，尽管有所有有利的法律​​规定，但公众参与环境影响评估的潜力尚未得到充分发挥。讨论主要是关于工作和福利（很少涉及生物多样性影响）。EIA报告未提供有关生物多样性丰富/敏感地区的任何空间信息，也未提供对人们使用的生物资源的影响的信息。我们确定了有效公众参与环境影响评价的四个支柱：（i）体制机会和有利于参与的环境；（ii）当地人参与的兴趣；（iii）当地人的能力建设；（iv）支持清关程序。在每个选项下均提供了具体建议。已经开发了一个简单的生物多样性影响评估矩阵，并列出了供当地人使用的，改善生物多样性的组成部分清单。