Sustainable Resources Management Journal

01-14

Authors: Rehab T. Ahmed and Mohamad Ahmed Najimaldin

Lead (Pb) levels in soils for different sites in Baghdad were determined to assess the soil contamination by lead in the city. Around sixty-three soil samples were collected as indicator of Pb pollution from different sources. The mean Pb concentrations in the soils ranging from 15 mg Pb/kg at the bus station, 800-2300 mg Pb/kg in the city center, and 8-350 mg Pb/kg along the highway. Value up to 9350 mg Pb/kg found in the soils near the batteries factory. The mean Pb concentrations in the city centre were substantially higher than values found in other places; they were also higher than the standards for soil in residential areas and in playgrounds for children. Pb soil concentrations at the downwind sides were some 60% higher than the upwind area. Bioavailable Pb (extracted with 0.04 M Na2EDTA solution) was also determined in this study. This parameter showed significant correlation with total Pb. Control measures should be adopted to reduce emissions of mobile-exhaust Pb and lead smelters. Nearby pollution sources such as highways, major streets, and batteries factories should be considered when locating new, schools and land use projects. At the same time, vegetable production and animal grazing should also be avoided in areas near highways.

01-24

Authors: Sarmad Nozad Mahmood

The establishment location of the renewable power resources requires serious measurements and analysis in order to estimate and dominate the performance and the cost of the power station with respect to location impairments. In this paper, a unique methodology is presented to model the power systems in critical specific locations with respect to the formalization of the natural geographical area. The geographical impairment that is chosen as the case study in this work is the declinations of the river based earth surface at Altun-Kopru town in Iraq. A hybrid power system was chosen to study and apply the idea. In addition, the hybrid power station is modeled using both hydro and wind turbines to provide a specific load with the required power. The proposed idea can be applied by specifying the point that the river declines, then creating a water channel to keep the water in the same level before declination phenomenon starts. In contrast, the channel leads river water to the critical location in order to be fallen down to operate the hydro turbine in certain flow ratios and separately to fill a Tank as water preservation model. In accordance, the main power was produced primarily depending on the hydro turbine and secondarily on the wind turbine. Moreover, four hydroelectric power considerations were studied in order to show their impacts on the performance and cost of the renewable power stations. For more precise analysis, extending power form the grid has shown that proposed stand-alone system in the whole case studies unconditionally is always cheaper than the breakeven grid network. Finally, a modular control system is designed in order to dominate water flow ratio based on Tank control unit

1-29

Authors: Faris A. Matloob and Hatam H. Alsoofe

The performance of outdoor space of a built environment determines whether it is successful and responsive to the human needs and capable to conduct its function well. The aim of this study is to examine to what extent the outdoor environment of Kirkuk University-Iraq is able to offer a responsive environment as well as put design insights for future development. The study is limited to the main campus located in Sayyada district, as it is one of the relatively newly established campuses in Iraq. The methodology used in this study includes both quantitative and qualitative techniques. As a quantitative technique, a questionnaire distributed among 100 users including students, faculty and staff was used. Whilst, an observation survey was used as a qualitative method to support the results. Triangulation of the findings was utilized to give more reliability to the findings. Findings revealed several issues on design aspects related to building arrangement, path layout, walkability, legibility and landscape. Consequently, a framework for future expansion was derived, which can act as guideline to develop this campus and any other campus of similar characteristics.

01-12

Authors: Asal Aziz Tawfeeq and Mohammad Aljaradin

In the work, fifty soil samples were cultivated on selective Gauze agar medium plates containing carboymethyl cellulose as the sole carbon source. Thirty-two samples showed similarity to the morphological characteristics of Streptomyces bacterium which were tested for cellulolytic activity using the 3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid reagent. Four efficient Streptomyces isolates were selected for their high cellulolytic activity which was recorded after 12 hours of incubation in the early logarithmic phase of growth. The four isolates attained their optimum cellulose activity after 96 hours of incubation with an enzyme activity of (0.55 + 0.1, 0.53+ 0.12 and 0.49 + 0.22 U/mL) by the Streptomyces isolates AA-17-1, AA-17-19 and AA-17-22 respectively with recording a specific enzymatic activity of (0.68 + 0.23 U/ml) of the Streptomyces isolate AA-17-32. The result showed, a supreme activity of the Streptomyces purpureus AA-17-32 to reduce (20 g) of paper waste to about (0.78 U/ml). After applying further morphological and biochemical analysis it’s recognized that, the Streptomyces isolate AA-17-32 belonged to the species Streptomyces purpureus. It concludes that this method for the production of cellulose can be used for the sustainable development of sugar production from the degradable of waste materials.

01-18

Authors: Weston D. Sakala and Stephania Moyo

Participation of local communities in wildlife management through Community resource boards (CRBs) has been in existence for many years. However, the socio- economic benefits regarding community participation remain questionable. The main objective of this study was to investigate the socio-economic benefits and challenges of community participation in sustainable wildlife management. A survey was conducted with the households living in Chiundaponde chiefdom. Stratified random sampling was used to select 170 households. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with heads of households, focus group discussions with CRB members and community meetings. The results revealed that socio-economic benefits derived from wildlife resources have not made a great impact in uplifting the standard of living. Furthermore, households living in GMAs have lower average income than households in other rural areas. However, the study has established that there is a link between sustainable wildlife management and improved rural livelihoods. This is so because revenues from wildlife are used to build schools, clinics, roads, bridges etc. It also offers employment to local communities. However, the proportion of people who benefited from wildlife was not significantly different from those who did not benefit (Pearson χ2 = 2.9, df=2, p < 0.24). Rural poverty and lack of food security contribute to poaching in protected areas. Therefore, the solution lies in improving the local capacity for investing wildlife revenues into sustainable revenue generating activities.