Why am I passionate about this?

I have been teaching and researching environmental impact assessment for over 30 years and it is still a topic that excites me. After all, what could be more challenging or relevant than figuring out how to deliver sustainable development? Trying to predict the consequences of development and putting in place effective measures to prevent adverse environmental and social effects all in the context of our intriguingly messy world of science, politics, governance, and public engagement is endlessly beguiling. For example, what might sustainable mining look like? I love learning from the wisdom of others, so I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have.


I wrote

Advanced Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment

By Angus Morrison-Saunders,

Book cover of Advanced Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment

What is my book about?

Advanced Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment explores the theory and practice of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a crucial tool for…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment

Angus Morrison-Saunders Why did I love this book?

This book provides a fresh, accessible, and captivating account of environmental impact assessment (EIA) featuring a diverse and truly global cast of contributors with expertise across the spectrum of practice.

Marking 50 years of practice, it addresses contemporary EIA issues in an innovative and engaging manner. From the historical origins to contemporary issues such as health assessment in a post-Covid 19 world, climate change, digital impact assessment and the role of artificial intelligence, this Handbook has it all.

It captures the state of the art provided by theorists and practitioners drawn from all around the world, before outlining possible directions for the next 50 years.

By Alberto Fonseca (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Reviewing over 50 years of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) policy-making and implementation around the world, this thought-provoking Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the current research surrounding EIA. Presenting new trends in law and policy-making, it highlights best practices in the application of technology to impact prediction and management, procedural efficiency, decision-making and public participation.



In addition to explaining the practicalities of the EIA process, chapters delve deep into EIA's decision-making stages and methods, revealing the causes of, and solutions to, recurrent issues. Contributions from leading scholars analyse case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America…


Book cover of Introduction To Environmental Impact Assessment

Angus Morrison-Saunders Why did I love this book?

This is an extremely handy “go-to” book for understanding environmental impact assessment (EIA) issues and procedures.

It walks through the entire EIA process step by step, explaining key concepts and terms in a straightforward and easily-accessible manner. The authors have an engaging style, using lots of practical examples and explanations to explain good EIA practices. I use it often in my own teaching and research.

By John Glasson, Riki Therivel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Introduction To Environmental Impact Assessment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A comprehensive, clearly structured and readable overview of the subject, Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment has established itself as the leading introduction to EIA worldwide. This fifth edition is a major update reflecting many significant changes in EIA procedures, process, practice and prospects over the last decade. In particular, it includes:

a much more international dimension, drawing on EIA activities worldwide;

an up-to-date coverage of the revised EU EIA Directive and its implementation;

the associated update of contemporary UK procedures and practice;

best practice on evolving methods in the EIA process;

a rich array of UK and many international case…


Book cover of Sustainability Assessment: Criteria and Processes

Angus Morrison-Saunders Why did I love this book?

This original book extolling sustainability thinking in impact assessment practice is a must read.

The authors lay out a compelling case to transform business as usual which ultimately degrades our planet to ensure that future development decision-making provides a positive contribution to sustainability.

Clear criteria for sustainability to guide impact assessment along with decision-making trade-off rules are unique stand-out features of this book. It will change the way you think about environmental impact assessment.

By Robert B. Gibson, Selma Hassan, Susan Holtz , James Tansey , Graham Whitelaw

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sustainability Assessment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sustainability assessment is now emerging as a more transparent, comprehensive, integrated and far-sighted approach to decision making. Its basic demand is that all significant undertakings must make a positive contribution to sustainability. To apply this test, decision makers need criteria based on the core requirements of sustainability and the particularities of the context. As well, they need appropriately designed public processes; guidance on the weighing of alternatives, trade-offs and compromises; a supportive policy framework; suitable tools and inspiring examples.

Drawing from transdisciplinary theory and practical case experience, the book addresses these matters and many of the surrounding controversies. While sustainability…


Book cover of Environmental Impact Assessment: A Methodological Approach

Angus Morrison-Saunders Why did I love this book?

This is a book packed with wisdom and very measured but insightful advice on doing environmental impact assessment (EIA) ‘right’. 

The methodological perspective evoked in the title is thorough, robust, pragmatic and evidence-based. The author has crafted a guide-book to good practice that is universal. Personally, I have used this book in my own teaching and research about EIA more than any other.

By Richard K. Morgan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Environmental Impact Assessment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the most important tools employed in contemporary environmental management. Presenting the component activities of EIA within a coherent methodological framework, Environmental Impact Assessment: A Methodological Approach provides students and practitioners alike with a rigorous grounding in EIA theory, including biophysical, social, strategic and cumulative assessment activities, and examines the crucial role, and limitations, of the science of EIA.
Deliberately designed to be relevant world-wide, the author focuses on the common skills and generic aspects of EIA that underpin all impact assessment work, independent of country or jurisdiction, such as screening and scoping, impact…


Book cover of Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice

Angus Morrison-Saunders Why did I love this book?

Sometimes, what is old can be new again. This is a great book that lays out the fundamental theory and principles underpinning environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Groundbreaking of its day, many of the chapters provide pioneering insights into the intricacies of EIA that still resonate today. The technical, the theoretical, the art and science and strategy of EIA are all explored by the international contributors, many of whom were founders in the field.

By Peter Wathern (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Environmental Impact Assessment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This comprehensive treatment of environmental impact assessment (EIA) provides an authoritative contemporary review of theory and practice over the past ten years. EIA is viewed as both science and art, reflecting the concern both with technical aspects of appraisal and the effects of EIA on the decision-making process. Adopted in many countries, with different degrees of enthusiasm, since its inception in the early 1970's, EIA is established as a major procedure for assessing the environmental implications of legislation, the implementation of policy and plans and the initiation of development projects. EIA is increasingly an essential part of environmental management


Explore my book 😀

Advanced Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment

By Angus Morrison-Saunders,

Book cover of Advanced Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment

What is my book about?

Advanced Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment explores the theory and practice of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a crucial tool for evaluating and mitigating the impacts of development projects on the environment. It explains key concepts, principles, methodologies and international best practice EIA principles and how they apply to deliver truly sustainable development. It also provides: fresh analyses of how environment and development intersect in EIA; exploration of the fundamental ideas promoted by the pioneers of EIA; and reflections on the increasing need to adopt a holistic, sustainability-oriented approach to EIA.

With accessible style, comprehensive coverage, and a practical approach, this book is an essential resource for environmental and sustainability students, scholars, and practitioners wishing to deepen their understanding of EIA.

Book cover of Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment
Book cover of Introduction To Environmental Impact Assessment
Book cover of Sustainability Assessment: Criteria and Processes

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Elephant Safari

By Peter Riva,

Book cover of Elephant Safari

Peter Riva Author Of Kidnapped on Safari

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been to, and loved, North, Central, and especially East Africa for over fifty years. Only six times have I been to Africa on holiday; more often, perhaps twenty or more times, as a television producer. Working in Africa gains a perspective of reality that the glories of vacation do not. Each has its place, each its pitfalls like stalled plane rides with emergency landings in the bush or attacks by wildlife. But, in the end, the magic of the “otherness,” what an old friend called “primitava” captures one’s soul and changes your life.

Peter's book list on the otherness that few get to experience

What is my book about?

Keen to rekindle their love of East African wildlife adventures after years of filming, extreme dangers, and rescues, producer Pero Baltazar, safari guide Mbuno Waliangulu, and Nancy Breiton, camerawoman, undertake a filming walking adventure north of Lake Rudolf, crossing from Kenya into Ethiopia along the Omo River, following a herd of elephant making their annual migration.

Stumbling onto an elephant poaching, the team become embroiled in true financing of terrorism for al Shabaab –ivory sales–and are determined to stop the slaughter at any cost. Ivory trade financing terrorism involves UN refugee camps with two hundred thousand displaced Somali persons, powerful…

Elephant Safari

By Peter Riva,

What is this book about?

A documentary team hiking through East Africa collides with a gang of deadly poachers, in this gripping adventure by the author of Kidnapped on Safari.

Years of filming, extreme dangers, and daring rescues have taken their toll on documentary producer Pero Baltazar and his team. To relax and reconnect with the East African wildlife they love, Pero organizes a walking safari for him, his camerawoman Nancy Breiton, and their elite guide Mbuno Waliangulu. Still, Pero has trouble truly disconnecting from work. When the team comes across a herd of elephants making their annual migration north of Lake Rudolf, Pero decides…


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