Patos - Mirim Lagoon system Causal chain analysis

GIWA REGIONAL ASSESSMENT 39  BRAZIL CURRENT CAUSAL CHAIN ANALYSIS 87 This section aims to identify the root causes of the environmental and socio-economic impacts resulting from those issues and concerns that were prioritised during the assessment, so that appropriate policy interventions can be developed and focused where they will yield the greatest benefits for the region. In order to achieve this aim, the analysis involves a step-by-step process that identifies the most important causal links between the environmental and socio-economic impacts, their immediate causes, the human activities and economic sectors responsible and, finally, the root causes that determine the behaviour of those sectors. The GIWA Causal chain analysis also recognises that, within each region, there is often enormous variation in capacity and great social, cultural, political and environmental diversity. In order to ensure that the final outcomes of the GIWA are viable options for future remediation, the Causal chain analyses of the GIWA adopt relatively simple and practical analytical models and focus on specific sites within the region. For further details, please refer to the chapter describing the GIWA methodology.