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IADC points to bigger picture
01 Dec 2006
The whole environment should be taken into account when considering port developments – including ecological, economic, social, cultural, political and technical, says Constantijn Dolmans, secretary general of the International Association of Dredging Companies. Port planning is therefore determined by environmental issues in their broadest sense, he says.“In the ecological sense,it depends on the location of the port.
Many ports – by nature – are located near ecologically valuable or sensitive areas. In all dredging projects, environmental issues should be taken into account since you are building in the environment. But all ports are different, as are all dredging projects.
“One should also make a distinction between the project (the product) and the process (the implementation). The project might have long-term implications on the environment/ecology – whether bad or good! The impact of the (dredging) process is often short-term and often does no harm, or this can be mitigated.”
Stalled projects are also the sign of a lack of information and lack of communication between the port and the public, says Mr Dolmans. “Clients should talk often and seriously to the public and arrange a process where reliable and comprehensible information is available.”
Mr Dolmans adds that he has “a bit of a problem”with the word “protection”. “I would rather talk about preservation, conservation and sustainable development. Preservation is only required when change is irreversible – for example, antiquities.
“In nature, whether it is a park in a city or a very vulnerable and valuable wetland, natural changes take place.You cannot protect nature from change. In this sense, conservation allows natural changes to take place.
“Finally, sustainability. This means that we require a project to ensure that a development undertaken now does not prejudice the options available to future generations. There can be good reasons for not dredging in a vulnerable and valuable environment – the value to be judged by stakeholders – but still mitigation and even compensation may result in a sustainable development after all, in the eyes of most stakeholders.”
