Environment
Rehabilitation and Closure Planning for Degraded Sites
A programme in rehabilitating degraded sites such as quarries, borrow pits, old dumpsites, contaminated land and degraded rangeland: assessing the site’s condition, choosing the post-closure land use, setting rehabilitation objectives and completion criteria, and preparing the closure plan and post-closure monitoring.
Overview
About the programme
Duration
3 days
Delivery
Training hall · Virtual · At your premises
Language
Arabic or English
Objectives
Training outcomes
- Assess the condition of a degraded site: stability, soil, water, contamination and vegetation cover.
- Build the conceptual site model and identify sources, pathways and receptors.
- Choose the post-closure land use in consultation with stakeholders, and set rehabilitation objectives and measurable completion criteria.
- Compare rehabilitation and remediation techniques: reshaping, capping, remediation of contaminated soil and revegetation.
- Prepare the structure of a closure plan and a post-closure monitoring programme, and identify the cost elements.
Content
What the programme covers
Day 1: degradation and site assessment
- Types and causes of land degradation: extractive activities, uncontrolled waste dumping, industrial contamination, overgrazing and desertification.
- The regulatory framework in Saudi Arabia: the Environmental Law and its regulations on soil and vegetation cover, and the role of the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification.
- Site assessment: desk study, field survey, soil and water sampling, and the conceptual site model.
Day 2: objectives and techniques
- Choosing the post-closure land use: nature conservation, grazing, recreation, or industrial or urban use.
- Rehabilitation objectives and completion criteria, the difference between them, and measurable examples.
- Rehabilitation techniques: reshaping and stabilising the surface, drainage and erosion control, engineered capping, in-situ and ex-situ remediation of contaminated soil, and revegetation with native species.
Day 3: the closure plan and monitoring
- Components of the closure plan: description, objectives, measures, schedule, responsibilities and stakeholder engagement.
- Cost elements of rehabilitation and closure, and financial assurance.
- Post-closure monitoring and maintenance, and criteria for handing over the site.
- Workshop: preparing a draft rehabilitation and closure plan for a hypothetical site, followed by the assessment.
Who it is for
Target audience
Environmental specialists, quarry and construction site engineers, staff of regulatory bodies and municipalities dealing with degraded sites, and staff of anti-desertification and rehabilitation projects.
Method
Delivery method
Short lectures, case studies of quarries, dumpsites and contaminated sites that have been rehabilitated, and a group workshop to prepare a rehabilitation and closure plan. A field visit to a site chosen by the organisation can be added. Delivered in person in the hall or at the organisation’s premises, or virtually, in Arabic or English.
Questions
FAQ
How does this programme differ from Mine Closure Essentials?
Mine Closure Essentials is dedicated to large mines and quarries and the requirements of the mining sector; this programme covers a wider range of degraded sites, such as old dumpsites, contaminated land, degraded rangeland and borrow pits.
Can the workshop be applied to one of our sites?
Yes. If the organisation shares a description of the site, photographs and any previous studies with the centre, the workshop is built on it, and a field visit can be added in coordination with the organisation.
Is there a certificate?
Every participant who attends the programme and passes the assessment receives a certificate of completion from Technology Experts Training Center, licensed by the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation.
A programme tailored to your organisation
The duration and topics of the programme are adjusted to the organisation's needs, and it is delivered at its site, in a training hall arranged by the Center, or virtually.