Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
(A) Pre-Restoration process: (1) describe the current condition of ecological resources, (2)
use the possible methods to describe the history of the site, (3) review the literature and visit
the site to hypothesize how the original system of the site worked, (4) determine the
objectives of the restoration and specify the condition of the site in the future.
(B) The Restoration process: (1) develop and implement the plan to achieve the objectives,
this includes identification of the schedule tasks, adopt the methods, estimate the cost and
labour, and begin the restoration work, (2) monitor the steps of the implementation plan to
assess the success of restoration.
(C) Post-Restoration process: (1) prepare reports and evaluate the success periodically, (2)
revise the plan and make the possible modifications to achieve the restoration objectives, (3)
make education efforts to exploit the success of the restoration process.
In Qatar, little works have been done concerning the restoration of endangered habitats.
However, a pioneer project to restore part of the coastal vegetation habitat was carried out
during pipeline installation at Ras Laffan area. The details of this project can be found in the
report of Al-Ansi and his colleagues [98], and was considered as a successful attempt to
restore part of the coastal habitat. There are many reasons behind such success: (1) this
project was a simple and inexpensive method to restore the vegetation, (2) the phases were
implemented according to the plan, (3) in the pre-construction phase, the site was surveyed
and the existing topography, vegetation density, floristic composition, and wildlife were
recorded and documented in detail, (4) mitigation procedures were developed to minimize
the impact of the construction activities in the project site, (5) tracking was undertaken to
follow the progress of construction in the site, (6) after completing the construction, the
project site was re-visited to ensure that the top soil was returned to its original position,
and (7) the project site was inspected to monitor the restoration and growth of coastal
vegetation.
6. Phytoremediation of contaminants
Contaminants enter into the environment in various ways, including direct leak or through
accidents during transport or during waste disposal from storage sites or industrial facilities
[111, 112]. Bioremediation process has been adopted as effective technique to remove,
transfer, degrade and immobilize various types of pollutants from soil and ground water
using living organisms including bacteria, algae and fungi. The term phytoremediation then
used to refer to such process when plants and their associated microbes are used for
environmental cleanup to deal with the organic and inorganic contaminants without the
need to excavate them and dispose them elsewhere. The problems of contamination as a
consequence of human and industrial activities are increasing. High levels of contaminants
might have accumulated in the soil and urban areas near oil and gas facilities which cause a
lot of damage to the environment and ecosystem. Most of the environmental contaminants
are chemical of both organic and inorganic origins. Different phytoremediation mechanisms
and methods have been recognized. The details of these processes can be found in many
published reports and papers [113-117]. Phytoremediation is not a new technique to remove
