In the fight to use nature against contamination, Dr Mohamed Hijri, professor of biological sciences at University of Montreal along with B. Franz Lang have successfully created petroleum eating mushrooms.
This began by planting willow plants in the spring into the contaminated soil. All the contaminants that reduce the soil quality will be absorbed by the plants and by the end of spring, these plants are burnt. After 2-3 cycles, the area will be fresh and clear void of any contaminants.
The area for this kind of research was provided by an oil company in Montreal. This area was very badly contaminated that nothing grew here. This land proved to be the perfect spot for Hijri to collect microorganisms that could ingest fuels.
Following these findings a project has been launched, named as Improving Bioremediation of Polluted Soils Through Environmental Genomics. This project has been based on the simple process of phytoremediation where plant matter is used for decontamination. With reference to the earlier researches conducted in this area, the team came to a conclusion that in phytoremediation it is not the plant that carried out the decontamination, but the combination of bacteria and mushrooms that processed the removal of contaminants. By finding the best plant-mushroom combination through this project, the team aims to create the best method of decontaminating even the worse areas of land. 
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