International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) has scheduled its Ecology and Dredging Webinar for December 11th, 2013, at 15.00 hrs.
This webinar will focus on the need and application of ecological knowledge in dredging projects. Astrid Kramer, the presenter is an ecologist and works as a project engineer for Hydronamic, the in-house engineering department of Boskalis.
Because dredging projects impact a wide variety of stakeholders, a fundamental knowledge of the interaction of ecology and dredging is to everyone’s benefit.
The word Ecology comes from the Greek words ‘oikos’ and ‘logos’ meaning the study or the laws of the house. It is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment. An environment comprises plants, animals, hydrodynamic processes, chemical characteristics and… dredging contractors.
Dredging contractors act worldwide and therefore interact with almost any type of environment:
– salt marshes,
– mangroves,
– coral reefs,
– tropical rainforests,
– the arctic, rivers,
– the deep sea,
– shallow seas.
“ As responsible contractors our aim is to minimise the environmental impacts. To do so successfully, a thorough understanding of the complex web of ecosystem relations and our role in it is crucial. Not an easy task or one we dredgers can do completely by ourselves, ” IADC announced.
During the last two decades dredging contractors have deliberately sought out collaboration with scientists and this has resulted in an increased understanding of dredging-induced impacts and innovative designs to mitigate and compensate these impacts.
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Press Release, November 25, 2013