An approach to an ecosystem restoration standard for Ranger Uranium Mine

Abstract

Rehabilitation of the Ranger mine site, located in the Northern Territory, Australia, must be completed by the mine operator, Energy Resources Australia Limited (ERA), by 2026. The Supervising Scientist (Australian government's Department of the Environment and Energy) has developed a series of rehabilitation standards against which the success of rehabilitation can be measured. These standards are not mandatory but will form the basis of the Supervising Scientist's advice on ERA's proposed closure criteria and rehabilitation plans, and the eventual success of rehabilitation. A number of the standards describe the requirements for the onsite environment, including the performance of, and restoration associated with, the re-constructed landform. This presentation will focus on the ecosystem restoration standard and is complementary to the landform stability standard (presented at this forum also). The ecosystem restoration standard considers all requirements for restoring the terrestrial ecosystem of the Ranger Project Area (including riparian areas). The paper addresses the following topics: The overall objective of the standard. The application of the standard (ecosystem similarity and sustainability and ecosystem trajectoryapproach). Relevant requirements (environmental requirements and aspirations of Traditional Owners). Recommended attributes and measures. The scientific basis underpinning the standard (guidelines used to develop the recommendedattributes and measures, and summary of scientific evidence). The future knowledge needs to be addressed to ensure appropriate management of the key risks tothe environment from the rehabilitation. Current research into deriving measures and scaling these measures (traditional ground and dronesurveys).