• A multicriteria approach to evaluating habitat change in urban areas: an example from the Black Country (UK)

      Young, Christopher; Jarvis, Peter (Ashurst: WIT Press, 2003)
      THE BOOK: The pressure on land resources in densely populated industrialized countries is now immense. Multifunctional management is therefore a prerequisite for the sustainable use of landscapes, and the only general strategy that may address the problems created by constantly growing demands on resources arising from production, residence, dumping of waste, habitat, ecosystem services, and recreation. This volume focuses on the discussion and research recommendations relating to three different aspects of future landscape research concerning planning and management: Monitoring Multifunctional Landscapes; Biodiversity Versus Landscape Diversity in Multifunctional Landscapes; and Complexity of Landscape Management. (WIT Press)
    • Assessing the structural heterogeneity of urban areas: an example from the Black Country (UK)

      Young, Christopher; Jarvis, Peter (Springer Netherlands, 2001)
      The increasing acknowledgement of the importance of urban habitats in the maintenance of biodiversity has brought with it a need to quantify this importance at a scale appropriate to the characteristic patch sizes encountered in urban areas. Taking a study area in the Black Country (UK) we used a spatially complete, rapid assessment method to evaluate habitat patches in terms of their internal structural heterogeneity. This method recognises the importance of both natural and anthropogenic processes in providing a diverse range of habitats and niches for both flora and fauna. It also recognises the key role of context in determining the ecological significance of each patch within the urban landscape. All habitats studied had a complex mix of both natural and artificial structural elements, where an element is a within-patch contributor to structural diversity, with each habitat type having a large range of element totals. Characteristic totals, reflecting the level of habitat structural diversity, were observed in some habitat types with residential areas having high values and industrial and commercial areas having low values. Certain structural elements were also associated with each habitat type allowing characteristic element assemblages to be derived. If structural diversity is linked with biodiversity, as seems to be the case in many (though not all) habitat types, then this unique method of viewing the urban landscape becomes a powerful tool for informing wildlife ecologists, nature conservationists, urban planners, environmental managers and landscape architects. (Springer Verlag)
    • Developing a safety assessment framework for the transportation of petroleum products: A case study of the Nigerian petroleum downstream industry

      Georgakis, Panos; Odogun, Augustine; School of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Science and Engineering (University of Wolverhampton, 2021-10)
      In Nigeria, downstream transportation and distribution of petroleum products is mainly done using pipelines and tanker vehicles. However, the latter have been linked to serious accidents/incidents with substantial consequences on human safety and the environment. This project aims to develop a safety assessment framework for mitigating the impact of accidents and improve road safety during the transportation of petroleum products between a loading depot and retail stations using tankers. During this study, a review of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry with respect to petroleum products transportation was carried out to identify key legislations and stakeholder interests within the context of accident mitigation and safety. A mixed research approach was adopted, using a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews for data collection. The questionnaire survey was used to investigate the problems of petroleum products transportation and distribution using road tankers from a tanker driver perspective, while semi-structured interviews were designed to elicit the opinions of professionals and elucidate their opinions and experiences in relation to the variables in this study. The results from the survey and the interviews conducted revealed gaps in the following areas related to the transportation of petroleum products: technologies, risk management, regulations, environmental management and training leading to the development of a Safety Assessment Framework (SAF) which constitutes the main contribution to knowledge. The developed framework integrates different components of safety to enhance the efficiency and reliability of transportation of petroleum products using tankers. This research would be of benefit to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiary the Petroleum Products and Marketing Company (PPMC) which oversees the transportation and distribution of petroleum products across the country. Also, the major oil marketers and the independent oil marketers which make up the freight transporters of the downstream oil and gas transport industry will benefit from this research. Concluding, this work may form a foundation for future research in the field of transport safety in Nigeria and Africa with regards to the transportation of petroleum products and other hazardous materials (HAZMATs).