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5B b - RA: Site Specific (TH4/5) Development of a guideline tool for eco-risk assessment of oil impacted mangrove forests. Farooq, Muhammad, Lethbridge, Gordon, Whale, Graham*,, Jones, David, ABSTRACT- A risk assessment guideline tool was developed to assess, evaluate and support the restoration of oil impacted mangrove forests in the Niger delta. This tool will form part of an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) toolkit for contaminated sites, which includes guidance for ERA of Soil, Surface and water sediments and Ecologically sensitive areas. Mangrove forests are the dominant intertidal forests along most shorelines in the tropics and subtropics. Oil can be deposited in mangrove forests by waves and currents following offshore oil spills or internally in the mangrove forests following spills from pipelines and associated facilities. Once oil has entered the mangrove forests it can potentially cover breathing roots of mangroves and kill fauna living in these sensitive habitats. In the light of previous oil spill case studies, field and laboratory experiments a guideline tool for assessment, recovery and restoration was developed. This tool does not cover preventive measures but focuses on already impacted habitats. It contains a methodology to assess the impact of oil, prioritise sites for clean up action, monitor natural recovery and proposes a restoration strategy for sites where natural recovery is unlikely. This tool is a flexible document; developed initially for the Niger delta but intended to be adapted to mangrove forests in other locations. Key words: oil, eco-risk, mangrove, restoration |
