Environmental Management https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1086-6 Perspectives on Driving Changes in Project-based Cumulative Effects Assessment for Biodiversity: Lessons from the Canadian Experience Ana Paula Alves Dibo 1 ● Bram F. Noble 2 ● Luis Enrique Sánchez 1 Received: 3 May 2018 / Accepted: 12 July 2018 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Cumulative effects assessment (CEA), as a required practice for the environmental assessment (EA) of projects in many countries, faces several practical challenges, especially related to biodiversity. Drawing on the perspectives and experiences of Canadian EA practitioners, this paper explores options or drivers of change for improving project-based assessment to better tackle cumulative effects on biodiversity. An on-line survey was conducted with 40 professionals from the private sector, government departments/agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations, examining the current challenges and opportunities regarding: CEA process for biodiversity; responsibilities for undertaking CEA tasks; resources to support and promote good CEA practice. In terms of process, there is shared understanding on: (i) the need of EA terms of reference to provide specific directions on CEA; (ii) CEA should capture both human and natural drivers of cumulative change; (iii) spatial boundaries for CEA should be based on ecological boundaries. There are dissenting views about: (i) whether CEA should consider all valued components (VCs) potentially affected by a project or only those for which residual effects are predicted; and (ii) delimitation of future temporal limits. In terms of responsibilities, participants agreed that project proponents should retain a central role in conducting CEA, but government agencies should lead the collection/ provision of information about other projects in the study area and baseline VC conditions. Information and knowledge management resources could be also applied in the context of governmental agencies and consultancy firms to support CEA for biodiversity. Keywords Practitioners ● Scoping ● Information management ● Knowledge management ● Environmental impact assessment Introduction Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) is the systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and managing changes in the environment caused by multiple interactions among human activities and natural process that accumulate across space and time (CCME 2014). The practice of assessing and managing cumulative effects is required under environ- mental assessment (EA) systems in many countries for development projects prior to their approval (IFC 2013). In Canada, at the federal level, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 establishes the need to consider cumulative effects through project EA, while provinces and territories variably require the assessment of cumulative effects under their respective legislation. In early 2018, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-69 to replace the current Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 with the Impact Assessment Act. The newly proposed Act similarly requires the assessment of a project’s cumulative effects; though, like the current Act, it restricts that assessment to major projects designated by federal regula- tion or ministerial order. It does, however encourage assessment of cumulative effects of activities in a region through regional assessment initiatives. Despite availability of legislated requirements for CEA and national and international good-practice guidance (e.g., US CEQ 1997, 2005; US EPA 1999; Hegmann et al. 1999; IFC 2013; CEAA 2014, 2015), the practice of CEA remains unsatisfactory (Duinker and Greig 2006; Cronmiller and Noble 2018). The challenges mainly relate to defining appropriate baseline conditions, indicators, and benchmarks * Ana Paula Alves Dibo anapauladibo@gmail.com 1 Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Escola Politécnica, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 2 Department of Geography and Planning, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada 1234567890();,: 1234567890();,: