Certificate in Environmental Restoration

Learn to Restore and Protect Degraded Environments, natural or man made.

This course is designed to lay the foundation for a career in environmental assessment, management or research. It may be a first step toward further studies (diploma, degree or post graduate), or depending upon the career path you follow, this may be all you need.

A key part of the course focuses on environmental assessment, which is an area of growing work opportunities in many countries.

Modules

Note that each module in the Certificate in Environmental Restoration is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.

What's covered in the CORE MODULES

Module 1:  ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

There are 6 lessons in this course:

1. Living Things
   • Classification of plants and animals
   • identifying living organisms
   • using identification keys
2. Basic Ecology
   • Populations
   • communities
   • ecosystems
   • constituents of ecosystem
   • the ecosphere
   • the web of life
   • habitats and niches
   • humans in the environment.
3. Global Environmental Systems
   • The Earth’s structure
   • the atmosphere
   • climatic systems
   • Gaia theory
   • the carbon dioxide cycle
   • El Nino.
4. Environmental Problems
   • Deforestation
   • loss of agricultural land
   • loss of biological diversity
   • loss of water
   • loss of non renewable resources
   • environmental weeds
   • the Greenhouse Effect
   • Ozone depletion
   • ozone as a Greenhouse gas
5. Conservation
   • The definition and goals of conservation
   • the history of conservation
   • natural resources (renewable and non renewable).
6. Acting Locally: Thinking Globally
   • Humans and water
   • how to minimize water usage
   • energy use in the home
   • reducing household waste
   • domestic transport and its affect on pollution
   • building materials and their environmental impact.

Module 2:  CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Conservation is the wise use of resources of the earth, in order that they will be able to support or sustain, the generations that are yet to come. This can be done in many ways and in different situations. For example:

• National Parks - The protection of the ecosystems, including endangered species of flora and fauna.
• Agriculture - Permaculture techniques such as the management of soil erosion and water catchment areas.
• Industry - Pollution control measures should be used.
• People - Every person should help to collect and recycle waste.

These examples show that conservation involves the use of resources so that the environment is protected and maintained, and that the ecosystems are rehabilitated and restored.  There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. An Introduction To Ecology
2. A Perspective On Environmental Problems
3. Pollution & Industry Effects On The Environment
4. Water & Soil
5. Vegetation Conservation & Management
6. Animal Conservation & Management
7. Marine Conservation & Management
8. The Future

Module 3:  ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction to Environmental Assessment
   • Types of Employment for Environmental Scientists, Pre purchase inspections, background data, Flora and Fauna Surveys, Open Space Management Plans, Detection of Pollutants, Use of Plants, Remediation of Polluted Sites, Employment in a Milti-Disciplinary Team.
2. Overview of Environmentsl Assessment
   • What is Environmental Assessment? Definitions of Environmental Assessment, Overview of the Environmental Assessment Process.
3. International Environmental Law
   • Foundations of Environmental Law, Making International Laws (Treaties and Customary Law), Milestones in International Environmental Law, Principles of International Environmental Law, Institutions that influence Environmental Law, Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Law.
4. Domestic Environmental Law
   • Evolving Domestic Environmental Law, Strategies for Domestic Environmental Policy, Establishment of Environmental Standards, Liability, Environmental Impact Assessment, Prior Authorisation and Enforcement.
5. Types of Environmental Assessments
   • Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Impact Statement, Environmental Risk Assessment, Ecological Risk Assessment, Strategic Environment Assessment, Environmental Audit, Regional Risk Screening, Ecological Impact Assessment, Social Impact Assessments and Statements, Economic and Fiscal Impact Assessment, Health Impact Assessment.
6. The Design and Process of Environmental Assessment
   • Steps in the Environmental Assessment Process (Screening, Scoping, Collection and Analysis of Information, Public Consultation and Participation, Reporting the Findings of the Study, Post Project Analysis) Impact Prediction and Evaluation including Impact Identification Methods and Impact Asssessment Techniques, Data Collection, Statistical Analysis of Data and Statistical Tests.
7. Writing Environmental Reports
   • Environmental Staments, Report Structure, Suggested Layouts for Environmental Statements, Report Presentation, Examples of Environmental Impact Statements.
8. Research Project
   • The Research Project is the student’s opportunity to test out their skills as an environmental consultant. In this project, the student will go through the steps involved in carrying out an environmental assessment and write it up as a professional report.

ELECTIVE MODULES