On May 19th 2016, a lecture was delivered at the main auditorium of the University of Benin by Prof. Geoffrey O. Anoliefo on Man and His Environment: Unsustainable exploitation of the land. The lecture anchored on how man?s activities have resulted in the degradation of the environment, how the soil can be reverted to its pristine state and how to avoid further soil damage.
Soil degradation is a serious environmental problem especially in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, where the soil has be polluted with crude oil spills and toxic chemicals from industries. Soil degradation can also result from excessive erosion brought about by deforestation, indiscriminate buildings which block natural drain routes, overgrazing and improper disposal of non-degradable wastes. Degradation of the soil makes the soil unable to support the growth of crops, which results in reduction in biodiversity and affects the general sustenance of life.
Due to the adverse effects of soil degradation, the need for remediation of the soil has been emphasized over the years. The conventional physical methods of remediation involving excavation of the polluted soil to an offsite location for treatment and/or disposal is cost extensive and time consuming hence it is often never done.
The biological method of soil remediation (bioremediation) uses the biodegradative potentials of naturally occurring organisms to remove or break down harmful substances in the soil. This can be done with plants, fungus or microbes. Studies have shown that microbes are the major drivers of bioremediation. However, the major limitation is that microbial metabolism of certain substances may produce toxic intermediates.
Bioremediation can also be achieved by the use of certain plants. Plants such as Chromolaena odorata (locally called ?Awolowo weed?) and Vernonia amygdalina (bitter leaf), both Asteraceae, has been shown to be able to remove pollutants from the soil, especially crude oil spills. Other plants that have been studied as potential good phytoremediation agents for the clean-up of crude oil contaminated soils include Panicum maximum (Guinea grass) and Water leaf (Talinum triangulare). Studies have also shown that plants such as Africa lettuce and Alstonia boonei (De wild) can take up heavy metals such as Lead, Cadmium and Iron from the soil and store in their leaves. Further research is still on-going regarding plants that can be employed to clean up the environment.
8 Comments
Oseluese, thanks for writing! I just read about the situation from the other report on Niger-delta area. Will the companies that contributed to the pollution will also be burdened to take the rightful role? It would be extremely unfair to make the people pay for what they haven't done. Thanks for bringing up this issue! Cheers!
Posted 05-06-2016 20:21
Bioremediation is a great idea , additional thing, after phytoremediation, it might be necessary to add more nutrients to the topsoil. Cyanobacterial cultures from leguminous plants and cogon grass can be added as primary foliage to rehabilitate the soil :)
Posted 05-06-2016 08:38
Bioremediation is become one of alternative method to treat contaminated soil. I also happened to study about it in one of my class. The other limitation is it can take a long time to remove all the contaminant. But still, it happened to way more cheap and also environmental friendly. Thanks for sharing!
Posted 04-06-2016 15:13
Dear Oseluese, Thank you for this informative article on bioremediation. It is saddening to see Niger delta undergoing soil degradation at alarming rate. On the other hand it is relieving to see the research and use of plants for restoring the degraded quality due to pollutants.
Posted 03-06-2016 13:34
Awesome report mate
Bioremediation a great way revitalise contaminated soil sustainably
Posted 03-06-2016 10:43
Oseluese, soil degradation is a critical problem to both animal species and humans making a living at the place. Bioremediation is important, just that it requires technological advance and some cost to recover it. However, cutting out trees to make farmland is more costly at the long term, so we should find ways to make the land rich again. Thanks fo sharing and have a great day!
Posted 02-06-2016 21:59
This is a new concept to me, but nonetheless, it seems like one of the main factors that is needed to be done for the well-being of our diversity. The plants you mentioned too are really interesting, I looked into them ahah. Thanks for the report!
Posted 02-06-2016 19:21
Bioremediation is one of the most sustainable ways to treat contaminated soils by relying on microorganisms and the subsequent biological degradation process. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 02-06-2016 18:12