A BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH TO UNDERSTAND THE DISTINCTIVE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INSTRUMENTS ON ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY

摘要

Five factors analyses have been conducted, splitting Table 3 data according to five variables relative to ecological integrity: hydrological basins, water consumption, waste water, biological quality, and physico-chemical quality. The objective was to assess the ecological integrity of the Walloon water policy. In sum, the Walloon input/output standards appear to be less stringent for firms in comparison with the Walloon activity standards and emission instruments. The Meuse basin, which is of higher ecological integrity than the Escaut basin, is less influenced by Walloon EPA pressures. Firms with low or high consumption of water are less influenced by Walloon EPA pressures than firms with middle consumption. In fact, the Walloon water instruments constrain mainly waste water (Table 2). Most firms with high water consumption are water-distribution suppliers with little quantities of waste water. This fact explains the relatively low influence of the Walloon EPA pressures on firms with high water consumption. These results are reinforced by factor analysis based on waste water intervals. No strong distinction can be made among low, middle and high waste water, which are all influenced by the Walloon EPA pressures. We conclude that a water pollution management policy exists, but that the water resource management policy is not sufficiently stringent. It reflects the fact that Walloon EPA goals do not regard water quantity as an issue. Of course, there is no shortage of water in the Walloon region (section 3.1). Nevertheless, the preservation of ecological integrity must take account of water quantity in order to sustain the habitat function and to avoid worsening the quality of water. As for the water pollution management policy, factor analyses based on biological and physico-chemical quality show the deficiencies of Walloon EPA pressures. Firms in good biological ecosystems are far less influenced by these pressures. There is no marked difference between good, middle and low quality when physico-chemical parameters are considered. In fact, the Walloon instruments impose physico-chemical limits, falsely considering physico-chemical parameters as a relevant framework for estimating biological status. These results demonstrate that it could be more efficient to have less "convenient" instruments for biological parameters.