Application of the DPSIR reference framework for determining the environmental status of El Salvador

Abstract

The study on the environmental status of El Salvador requires an analytical tool that establishes a logical link between social and economic factors that put pressure on natural resources which are to be considered as the “causes” of environmental problems. These in turn determine national sustainability prospects. The framework known as Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) is an analytical instrument that has been developed by the United Nations Program for Environment (UNEP) to be applied in integrated environmental assessments.

This paper is the application of the DPSIR framework for logically sorting and grouping the factors that affect the environment, the effects of human actions on ecosystems and environmental assets and the impact they have on human health and nature. It also takes into account interventions by society and government to address the problems caused by human actions.

The application of DPSIR instrument has allowed analyzing environmental issues through a systematic approach and a conceptual framework focused on the tensions of environmental dynamics inherent in human development. It allows to build a situational overview of the state of the environment and to reveal Salvadoran trends as well as the human dimensions that generate their change and future prospects to protect and improve their condition.

Entorno, august 2013, issue 53: 37-50