The Baseline - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 370

Physical attacks causing bodily harm during i eldwork are rare, but not unknown. A
team member unlucky enough to have a bandit or thief threaten him or her with a knife
or gun and demand money, is well advised to hand over money and valuables without
demurring. Thieves will usually leave immediately. Most thieves are not interested in
harming people, or even in confronting people. Considering the small probability of being
attacked, arming team members cannot be recommended, especially since most of us are
unlikely to be able to use any weapon to much advantage.
There is sometimes a problem of sexual harassment of women in a i eld team. The best
protection is not to work alone; safety is in numbers. Female i eldworkers should obtain
information about local customs before they arrive, and choose clothing that is not pro-
vocative and is in line with dress codes of local women.

The best protection is not to
work alone; safety is in numbers.

What Do We Know?

When planning i eldwork the region in which the project site is located, should be consid-
ered as well as the site itself. Collection and compilation of relevant secondary data prior
to i eldwork, as part of the scoping process, should have generated background informa-
tion about the host region, to an extent adequate for the objectives of planning the survey.
Information on geology and soils, topography, seismicity, land use, demographics, local
customs, norms and values, administrative boundaries, watershed boundaries and drain-
age patterns, water quality and biota, or rainfall records are usually available, although
extensive background research may be required. After reviewing available background
information, survey objectives and i eld programmes should be reassessed to take advan-
tage of the available information.
Google Earth may be highly benei cial. Depending on the location Google Earth
often provides amazingly clear imagery of the site to be visited. Overlaying digital topo-
graphical data, a virtual l ight around is an enlightening experience. Settlement areas
are readily identii ed, and largely undisturbed wilderness areas are also usually recog-
nizable as such.

Google Earth often provides
amazingly clear imagery of the
site to be visited.

CASE 8.6
Environmental Scoping and Security Risks

From 1999 to 2000 violent religious unrest raged
through the northern part of Indonesia, causing the
deaths of several thousand people. Extremists travelled
from village to village, provoking civil war. In 2001 your
authors were engaged in environmental fi eldwork at the
Weda Bay Nickel mine project area in Halmahera Island

at the northern tip of Indonesia. Travel was still restricted
by the military although the unrest had ceased during
the previous year. Security arrangements were central to
fi eldwork planning, and military escorts accompanied all
fi eld teams.