Challenges confronting environmental impact assessment practices in Tanzania: Construction industry professionals' perspective

The construction industry is among the fastest growing industries in Tanzania, thus making the integration between the construction industry and the environment inevitable. Activities of the industry poses considerable destruction to the environment and peoples' lives. The purpose of this study is to examine the critical challenges construction industry professionals face in undertaking Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). A mixed method approach was adopted. Quantitative data was analysed through descriptive statistics whereas qualitative data was analysed through content analysis. Based on the findings, the top three identified challenges included Stakeholders inadequate knowledge regarding the environmental protection laws; environmentally friendly materials not specified/known by stakeholders and lack of government enforcement and support. The results of this study will foster better understanding of the challenges to enable the development of solutions towards addressing the identified challenges and the improvement of EIA practice in Tanzania. Also, the mitigation of the challenges will enhance environmental sustainability within the developing countries such as Tanzania.