ABSTRACT
T h roughou t this book, the message tha t EIA is bo th necessary an d beneficial is pu t with force. W ithout wishing to detract from this I would like to take the opportun ity o f an early chap ter to step back and look at a few o f the underlying assum ptions about how EIA can be used and w here it fits into the p lanning system. I also want to exam ine some o f the motives o f the various players in this particular gam e and see to w hat ex ten t EIA can and does fulfil the ir hopes. All these m atters are relevant for they affect both how an d why such studies are done.
