ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGE TO HERITAGE ASSETS : SOME BACKGROUND REFERENCES

Assessment of damage to heritage assets is often a weak element in environmental impact assessments (EIA). General method development is needed in this respect as support for the authors of analyses and descriptions for road projects. The task of the project Assessment of damage to heritage assets was to develop a method which can assess damage to protected areas for nature, culture or outdoor activities. The types of areas which have been studied are areas of national interest and Natura 2000 areas. The study is based on a major review of e.g. Swedish, European and supranational handbook or educational literature, investigation material from infrastructure projects, and current guidelines and laws. From this review, the following aspects were highlighted: the environmental aspects which are listed as capable of being damaged, the way damage is assessed, the way environmental pressure, change in environmental state and related impacts are described, the evaluatory principles to be used, and the legal basis for the conservation of assets deemed worthy of conservation. These aspects have been used as building blocks in constructing a method. (A) This document is also available electronically via Internet at URL: http://www.vti.se/PDF/reports/M936.pdf.