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Tom Foster and Matthew Jury of DHI Singapore have been appointed to a new PIANC international working group, to develop guidelines for Dredging and Port and Waterway Construction around coastal plant habitats.

Tom Foster is the co-chair of the working group, with Deborah Shafer from the US Army Core of Engineers as the main chair.

The working group will collect and analyze available information and “good practice”-case studies on dredging and port construction around marine and intertidal plant habitats and their associated communities. These ecosystems such as mangrove, seagrass and salt marshes critically contribute to climate regulation, providing a strong driver for their protection. Based upon the collected knowledge, the new working group will establish guidelines on how to minimize impacts on the coastal ecosystem services and/or to benefit from these (win-win-situation).

The next meeting of the working group will be hosted by DHI Singapore in August 2012.

Dredging Today Staff, February 27, 2012; Image: dhigroup