Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Risk Management in Restoration Projects
Risks to project completion abound in the field of ecological restoration. The potential for prob-
lems to occur in the restoration project development process is very high. However, certain strat-
egies can be implemented to improve the likelihood of project success. Risk management is a
project management tool concerned with avoiding or reducing risk as much as possible before it
occurs. Good project managers create backup plans so that when bad things happen, the project
team is not caught flat-footed.
Have you ever had one of the following problems?
• Planting is under way and an adjacent landowner informs you that you are blocking access
to his land, causing the installation process to come to a halt.
• A key member of the project team becomes ill and is unable to complete design work
critical to complete the project.
• Well into the design process, with installation about to begin, you learn that several species
you required are unavailable due to poor seed set this year.
If you want to avoid these problems, you must get the people with answers to the above issues on
your side from the very beginning of your project, and you must get them involved in an overall
project risk assessment. By participating, these people contribute where they can be most produc-
tive: by identifying risks that the project will face and then identifying ways to counteract those
risks. They are forced to come up with solutions for the problems that could potentially affect your
project, and in the process they will likely become your most ardent project supporters, as they
soon develop a strong sense of project ownership.
Restorationists can add value to their projects and their project sponsors by conducting risk
assessments on their projects. We suggest that each project manager undertake a risk assessment
during the early planning phase for each project. To do anything less is to leave the results of all the
planning and design to chance and to risk making costly and avoidable mistakes. Risk assessment
is a critical component in the restoration planning process; used properly, it can greatly improve
the likelihood of on-time delivery and effective cost control.
A risk assessment for a restoration project should focus on answering the question “What can go
wrong?” for each phase of the project. Carl Pritchard (1997) suggests that risks can be categorized by
type to help identify and manage them. We suggest that restoration project managers focus on two
types of risk: technical risks and environmental risks. Technical risks, which are primarily performance
related, typically are concerned with the project deliverables and those team members responsible for
delivering them. Environmental risks are concerned primarily with site and climatic factors.
Through brainstorming, your team should seek to uncover risks in both categories, evaluate
the impact of each risk, evaluate the probability of the risk occurring, review the risks, and develop
appropriate countermeasures to avoid or minimize the effects.
Each project will have its own assemblage of risks. Brainstorming with stakeholders and the
project team will generate a list specific to the project. Environmental and technical risks fre-
quently encountered on restoration projects include the following:
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