Global Journal of Human-Social Science, B: Geography, Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Volume 22 Issue 3

environmental risks, using the concept of net environmental benefit analysis is key to safe management of the mangrove ecosystem and to establish the safe cleanup endpoints for the mangrove ecosystem. In cleaning oiled mangrove forest shoreline, extreme caution must be exercised in selecting cleanup activities. Potential benefits of oil removal must be weighed against the risks of potential additional harmful impacts from the cleanup technique on the mangroves habitat. This is because the mangrove ecosystem are: • High degree bio-diversity & ecological sensitivity to hydrocarbons. • Easily damaged by physical presence of shoreline clean-up teams. • Priority sites for protection booming • Requires expert advice & guidance if clean-up is to be attempted. Cleanup options are best selected from the list of available techniques taking into consideration the above highlighted points. • No Action/Natural Recovery When it is appropriate to do nothing. When cleanup would cause more harm than benefit to mangroves or other associated habitats, or when shorelines are inaccessible • Barrier Methods Several forms of barriers can deflect or contain oil, including booms, sediment berms, dams, and filter fences. Barriers can be used along mangrove shorelines and inlets to prevent oil entry. Proper strategic boom deployment is highly effective in trapping large quantities of mobile oil and reducing oil impact to interior mangroves. • Manual Oil Removal Manual removal, using hand tools and manual labor, is often conducted to remove bulk oiling by heavier oils, such as crude oil or Bunker oil, stranded in mangroves. Manual removal can help prevent other mangroves from contamination. • Passive Collection with Sorbents Sorbent boom or other sorbent materials can be placed at the fringe of oiled mangrove forests to passively recover any mobile oil, including sheens. Sorbents are oleophilic and either absorb or adsorb oil. • Vacuuming Vacuuming can remove pooled oil or thick oil accumulations from the sediment surface, depressions, and channels. Vacuum equipment ranges from small units to large suction devices mounted on dredges, usually used outside vegetated areas. • Ambient Water Flooding (Deluge) and Low-Pressure High Volume Ambient Water Flushing Low-pressure flushing with ambient seawater can wash fluid, loosely adhered oil from the sediment surface and mangrove vegetation into areas where it can be collected, as long as it can be done without resulting in significant physical disturbance of the sediment. • Nutrient Addition/Bioremediation Microbes and essential nutrients for oil degradation generally are not limited in mangrove habitats, but nutrient enrichment may not offer much benefit. • NO NO Response Techniques for Mangroves Cleanup, Under no circumstances should live mangrove vegetation be cut or burned. Both techniques will destroy trees and mangrove habitat. Mangrove trees are slow growing and take decades to be replaced by mature vegetation. Figure 10: The Mangrove Ecosystem Impacted with Spilled Oil © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue III Version I 33 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 B Oil Spills Cleanup Operations on Land and Inland Waters – The Mangroves Cleanup Philosophy