Activities Affecting the Environment Essay Example

Activities Affecting the Environment Paper Other gettable will also be identified for coastal slums with saline soil. Participants will be encouraged to prepare organically based growth media to produce vegetables not suited to these conditions. Other types Of vegetables will be introduced and used, especially those that have already proven to be well suited to Haitian climates. Positive Environmental Impacts: This activity will enhance the value of spaces and backyards that are generally underused. Growing vegetables in containers will create spaces for agricultural production. The gardens will make it possible to establish more favorable micromanages. They will also conserve local types of vegetables. Cultivation in the ground, in backyards, and on slopes will help to reduce surface run-off. The inclusion of organic matter will help water infiltration. Adverse Environmental Impacts: The following will be monitored: the use of unsuitable soil, poor-quality organic fertilizers, and dirty irrigation water. Small-Scale Livestock Breeding Included in the initiative at the participants request, this activity will involve producing poultry, rabbits, and Guiana pigs. The breeding of these types of livestock is known. However, it is not widespread, due to a lack of means and chemical supervision. Setting up these breeding units also aims to ensure food security and generate income for families, to improve their quality of life. Two uses are planned for the livestock: to be eaten at home and to be sold. These animals will be bred in cages, which can be stacked vertically or lined up horizontally. Production sites will be backyards or other spaces used for this purpose. The designated spaces are already available and adapted to the Haitian context. Some producers live in urban areas. We will write a custom essay sample on Activities Affecting the Environment specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Activities Affecting the Environment specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Activities Affecting the Environment specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Livestock will be fed with residues from food and market crops. Feed will also include domestic kitchen waste. Supplemental feed will be purchased from local feed suppliers to intensify livestock production, especially for poultry. Hillside slum dwellers will be encouraged to use small spaces on slopes to produce fodder for rabbits and Guiana pigs. These types of crops will also play a role in protecting slopes. Positive Environmental Impacts: This activity will produce manure to fertilize urban gardens. Some slaughterhouse waste will be used, such as dried blood in compost, or skins in crafts from re-usable materials. Breeding livestock in pens also has the advantage of eliminating risks of the animals destroying or deteriorating the environment. Adverse Environmental Impacts: The following adverse effects will be averted through monitoring. Diseases and parasites can spread in poorly run breeding units and can also affect human health. Other adverse effects are the poor management of livestock wastes, and poor management of fodder crops. Fruit-Tree Seedling and Ornamental Plant Nurseries The nurseries will be developed in backyards or other spaces developed for this purpose. This activity aims to enable families to increase their income by selling seedlings or produce from fruit trees. This activity also aims to enhance the environment by restoring wooded and eroded areas, and by developing green spaces. Nurseries will occupy small spaces. Participants will be encouraged to grow seedlings in re-used or recycled plastic containers, in an organic growth medium prepared with manure or compost. Species will be mainly local, and will be chosen in consultation with the participants. Other already introduced and adapted species will be chosen. Vegetative reproductive techniques such as cutting, layering, and grafting will be used to add value to the plants produced, but also to enable production in shorter mainframes. These nurseries will focus mainly on producing fruit and ornamental plants. However, small forest production will not be ruled out if demand or interest exists. The planting of trees will be conducted by individuals with plants of their choice or by local community organizations involved in environmental improvement activities. These organizations will provide survival control for the area planted. On government lands, local organizations will develop action plans with local authorities. Positive Environmental Impacts: These include the restoration of vegetation over, soil protection (especially on slopes), as well as the conservation and multiplication of local species. Adverse Environmental Impacts: The adverse effects to be monitored will be the same as for vegetable gardens, though the impact is less critical for this activity. Composting of Household Wastes This activity will be carried out by families and neighborhoods, and will reduce random waste disposal on streets, in ravines and on vacant lots. Organic wastes will be recycled as compost, and some non-organic wastes will be used for craft activities. Families are expected to generate income by ailing compost and craft products. Families will manage wastes by selective sorting of wastes produced at home and in the immediate neighborhood. Organic wastes will be used to produce compost, in containers designed for this purpose in urban areas. Participants may dispose of non-organic wastes at waste collection points. At the neighborhood level, waste management will be promoted by local organizations involved in raising community awareness of, and involvement in, selective sorting of household wastes. Compost produced will be used in vegetable gardens, in nurseries, and for other plants. Compost will also be sold on the local market for this purpose. Positive Environmental Impacts: This activity will improve the sanitation of the areas of intervention, and thus of the cities of intervention. Communities will change their habits, once they become aware of, and effectively involved in, improving the urban environment. Groundwater, soil, and coastal pollution will greatly decrease. The production of compost will play a definite role in soil improvement and the improvement of agricultural production. Adverse Environmental Impacts: This activity will be monitored to ensure that he composting process produces compost that is contaminant-free. Environmental nuisances must also be prevented in installing the neighborhood composting unit. Small Recycled-Craft Workshops This activity will use iron, glass, plastic, and paper to make decorative craft items, handy household items, or Haitian art (e. G. Paper-mchi masks and fruits, paintings, pottery, toys). These products will be sold, creating jobs and generating household income. Positive Environmental Impacts: Less Nan-organic waste will be disposed at dump sites and this waste will be valued more. This will make recycling easier n communities, and therefore in urban areas. Adverse Environmental Impacts: Monitoring will be related to the work methods and techniques for producing craft items in small workshops. These methods must protect the health of participants and avoid pollution. Workshops for Processing Agricultural Produce This activity will process mainly fruits and vegetables bought on the market during the harvesting season. These will be sun-dried or cooked on improved kerosene stoves, or energy-efficient charcoal stoves. The resulting products will be sold on the local market to generate household income. Organic sates will be recycled in composting units, or in small-scale livestock breeding units. The water used to wash fruit and vegetables will be recycled to irrigate vegetable gardens. Positive Environmental Impacts: This activity will enhance the value of highly perishable agricultural produce (fruit and vegetables). Organic wastes will be recycled to produce compost, or feed for small livestock. Wastewater will be recycled to produce plants. Methods and techniques for processing produce in workshops. These methods must protect the health of participants and consumers. They must also prevent pollution. Pick Top of Page D) Measures to Mitigate and Monitor Adverse Environmental Impacts For vegetable gardens, the use of unsuitable soil, poor-quality organic fertilizers, and dirty irrigation water must be monitored. Training for participants includes sessions covering these issues. Participants can then control these issues themselves. The various themes that will be discussed include soil selection criteria for vegetable production in the ground and in containers, production of contaminant-free compost and manure, and the selection of water to irrigate vegetables safely. In the latter case, wastewater cycling and rainwater harvesting will be discussed to avoid any misuse. Prerequisites are defined for setting up vegetable gardens and will be checked with all participants for the particular space they plan to cultivate. Staff will visit and accept sites before providing equipment to begin setting up the garden. Prerequisites defined include prior land use (for in-ground production), soil source for container gardens, and water source and availability. Hands-on training in composting will enable participants to gain an understanding of how to produce compost. Furthermore, for this activity, artisans will sort household wastes at home and thus bring the waste needed to practice composting. These measures are already being practices through the Pilot Urban Gardening Initiative. For small-scale livestock breeding units, breeding units must be well run and monitored to ensure that diseases and parasites do not spread and negatively affect human health. Monitoring will also help to ensure the proper management of wastes produced by these units and the sound management of fodder crops. Participants will be trained to manage the breeding units they have chosen to start up, and to produce and use fodder crops. Planned prerequisites for developing a breeding unit include access to water (availability, source) and availability of space. The size of herds, flocks or colonies will be based on the breeding guidelines of the selected species and on the producers means (space, access to water, access to feed, availability of labor). The design of the breeding units will take into account the management of the wastes produced. Droppings will be collected and transformed into manure, or incorporated in the production of compost. There will not be much slaughterhouse Waste, considering Haitian patterns Of DOD preparation and consumption (e. G. Internal organs are eaten, as is skin, after singeing and scraping off hair). Blood may be collected in the case where many animals are slaughtered and then used for food (such as blood pudding) or to prepare dried blood. Where available, some slaughterhouse wastes (such as rabbit or Guiana pig skins) may be used in other production chains, if the producer does not scrape them for food. Poultry feathers may be used in making crafts. Diseases and parasites will be controlled by training parasitic pants to manage the breeding of selected types of livestock (through tertiary care and hygienic slaughter methods). They will also be controlled through access to health prevention and veterinary treatment services. This will be done in collaboration with the Animal Production Services Of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and other agencies working in this field, such as VITRIFIED, a non-governmental organization, or the Inter- American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IAC). For fruit-tree seedling and ornamental plant nurseries, and for the planting of trees, the same measures will be applied as for vegetable gardens. For household waste composting, monitoring of the composting process must ensure that the resulting product is contaminant-free and prevent environmental nuisances when neighborhood composting units are installed. The composting training developed in the Pilot urban Gardening Initiative focuses on the importance of sorting household wastes and proposes practices in this regard. This will continue in the urban Agriculture Initiative. Production methods will be discussed with participants. For neighborhood composting, which involves production on a larger scale, the coal organizations will have access to coaching in setting up small production units. This coaching will consider the selection of the composting site and production methods. In this regard, a consultants services will be needed to evaluate production sites proposed by local organizations. The Pilot urban Gardening Initiative has already referred to the services of a sanitary engineering consultant to study the feasibility of this activity for four local organizations. The Urban Agriculture Initiative will follow the same approach. Compost produced will be quality-controlled on a regular basis. Laboratory analyses will track and quantify the presence of contaminants. The Algebra Gardening Initiative has already used the services of the Centre De Recherchà © Industrially du Quabeck (CRIB) [Quebec industrial research centre] for this purpose. The Urban Agriculture Initiative will do likewise, until Haitian laboratories are set up for this type of analysis. The Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (FAME) and the Faculty of Sciences are working on this. The FAME of university Squeaky (UNIQUE), and the Agricultural Research and Documentation Centre (CARD), are expected to provide support in carrying Out applied research in compost production. For small recycled-craft workshops, the adverse environmental impacts to be monitored are related to the work methods and techniques for producing craft items in small workshops. These methods must protect the health of participants and avoid pollution. Attention will focus primarily on the protective equipment needed to work safely in a healthy, well-aired environment. The choice of production techniques will also be based on work already done by the National Office for Handicrafts (NARRATOR). For workshops processing agricultural produce, monitoring will relate to the rook methods and techniques for processing produce in workshops. These also prevent pollution. Participants will be trained in environmentally friendly processing techniques and practices, hygiene in preparing produce, and the nutritional value of produce used. Attention will focus on equipping workshops to ensure product health and quality. Contacts will be made with local organizations that have developed several traditional fruit and vegetable processing techniques in Haiti. They include the Congoaction des Petites Frees et Sours De Saints-TherSE, the Former des Recoils and the Papaya Centre in the Central Plateau. In Port-AU-Prince, the key environmental risks associated with natural disasters that may influence the Urban Agriculture Initiatives activities are surface run-off and landslides in periods Of heavy rain and hurricanes. However, when hurricane Georges struck, minimal damage was reported to the Urban Gardening Initiatives activities. In Connives, flooding is mostly of concern during rainy, stormy, or hurricane seasons. Participants in the Urban Gardening Initiative in these areas got around this problem by developing their gardens mainly on piles and hard roofs. Apart from the initiative discussed here, drainage works in some neighborhoods have diminished the effect of this problem. Pick] E) Conclusion After reviewing the proposed activities, staff are convinced that the implementation of this initiative would have no adverse effects on the biophysical and human environment in the areas of intervention. On the contrary, the initiative was designed with the participation of slum community representatives to gain a good understanding of how to improve the living conditions of families in these slums. Environmental management of Waits urban areas is not simply an objective of the Urban Agriculture Initi ative. It is also a basic guideline in planning the initiative. Controlling and monitoring environmental effects, as well as the effectiveness of the Urban Agriculture Initiatives mitigation measures, will form an integral part of the system for monitoring and evaluating the activities to be promoted. The initiatives progress and evaluation reports will systematically discuss these elements. Zoning Ordinances and Regulations Zoning ordinances and regulations are laws that define and restrict how you can use your property. Cities, counties, townships, and other local govern aments adopt zoning plans in order to set development standards to assure that land is used for the common good. Why Zoning Is Such a Big Issue Zoning laws come into play on every single real estate development, regardless of how big or small, so if you are thinking about buying property or making improvements to property you already own, youd better be sure you understand the zoning restrictions before you commit to anything. One zoning use is typically not compatible with another. For example, a commercial building usually cannot be constructed on property thats zoned or residential uses. If you buy open ground to build your dream house that is in an agricultural zone, you may not be able to build it without a change in the zoning. Getting the zoning changed on property is a very difficult process. It requires a process of giving public notice and then having a variance approved by government agencies that oversee enforcement of the zoning plan. Opposition to zoning changes by neighbors and other interested parties can be fierce. You can find out how property is zoned by calling your local planning department. They can also explain what you would need to do to get a arrange. Before getting too involved in a zoning issue, it would no doubt be in your best interests to hire a local land use attorney to help you through the process. Zoning Restrictions use requirements refer to how property can be used. Typical zonings categories include: ; Residential Commercial Industrial Agricultural Recreational These categories usually break down into further subcategories. For example, there are subcategories for single-family (I. E. , residences) and multiple-family (e. G. , apartments or condominiums) residential use. Zoning laws will set forth many use restrictions, such as: The height and overall size of buildings; ; Their proximity to one another; What percentage of the area of a building lot may contain structures; What particular kinds of facilities must be included with certain kinds of uses. Zoning ordinances will typically limit the number of stories and total height Of a building, require a certain number Of parking spaces for a commercial building, and require a driveway and garage on a suburban residential property. The bulk requirements of a zoning ordinance refer to: The height and size restrictions on buildings including the number of stories in a building; ; The sq rare feet of space which a building provides; The percentage of area it covers on a building lot; ; The minimum lot size requirements, if any. The setback and side-yard requirements of a zoning ordinance refer to the distance between the front and back property lines and from the side property lines Stage 1: the hack team TO fully understand the process and be able to identify all likely hazards and Caps, it is important that the HACK team is made up of people from a wide range of disciplines. There are a number of functions that the team must cover: ; There must be a chairman to convene the group and to direct the rook of the team ensuring that the concept is properly applied. This person must be familiar with the technique, be a good listener and allow all participants to contribute. ; Someone with a detailed knowledge of the production processes (a production specialist) is required to draw up the initial flow diagrams. ; Several specialists may be involved in the team, each with an understanding of particular hazards and associated risks, e. . A microbiologist, a chemist, a SQ manager, a process engineer. ; People, such as packaging specialists, raw material buyers, distribution staff or production Taft who are involved with the process, and have working knowledge of it, may be brought into the team temporarily in order to provide relevant expertise. ; The teams progress and results of the analysis should be recorded by a technical secretary. If any changes are made to composition or operational procedures, it may be necessary to alter the Caps or change methods of monitoring. .. Stage 2: describe the product A full description of the product should be prepared. This should include information relevant to safety information, e. G. Composition, physical/ chemical structures of the raw materials and the final product, the amount of eater available for microbial growth (away), the amount of acid or alkali in the product (pH); any treatments that will eliminate or reduce the level of micro- organisms such as heating, cooling, freezing, brining , smoking. Information regarding how the product is to be packaged, stored and transported should also be considered together with facts regarding its shelf life and recommended storage temperatures. Where appropriate labeling information and an example of the label should be included. An example of a form that can be used by the team is included in Appendix Ill. . Stage 3: ; identify the products intended use How the product is intended to be used is an important consideration, I. E. Is it to be cooked before eating? Consumers like to experiment with food so it is possible for food to be consumed raw, even when the manufacturer recommends cooking before consumption. All eventualities should be considered at this stage. Target groups in the population should be identified to whom the product may present a higher risk, e. G. The young, elderly, immune-compromised, or pregnant women. .. Stage 4: the process flow diagram The first function of the team is to draw up a detailed flow diagram of the process. The expertise of the production specialist is important at this stage. Processes will differ in detail in different plants, and an accurate flow diagram depends on detailed knowledge of the process. An example of a process flow diagram for Cirri sausage is included in Appendix IV. .. Stage 5: on site verification of flow diagram Upon completion of the process flow diagram (PDF), members of the team should visit the manufacturing area to compare what information is present on the PDF compared to what actually happens during production. This is known as walking the line, a step by step practice to check that all information regarding materials, equipment, controls etc. Eave been taken into consideration by the team during the preparation of the process flow diagram. Aspects such as time of production, deviations caused by different shift patterns, Startup, shut down, cleaning and especially night shifts should be monitored. .. Stage 6: identification of hazards and consider any measures required to control the identified hazards Effective hazard identif ication and risk assessment are the keys to a successful HACK. All real or potential hazards that may occur in each ingredient and at each stage of production would be considered.