Mine reclamation planning and management: Integrating natural habitats into post-mining land use

Abstract

The reclamation of mined land in the Czech Republic has been focused on preparing the land for final use for productive purposes. The current national regulatory framework does not consider non-productive habitats as a legal type of post-mining land use. In the study presented here, we mapped, categorized, and analyzed non-productive post-mining habitats and defined appropriate management measures applicable under the present legal framework. Thirty different types of non-productive and productive post-mining habitats were distinguished in the study area of the North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin. Spatial and on-site analyses were conducted to identify their landscape and ecological functions, using measures such as the average area, the perimeter, and the relative length of the ecotones. The results showed that non-productive habitats accounted for 9.9% of the study area and that the non-productive habitats were significantly smaller than the productive habitats. There was an average area of 1 ha for non-productive habitats and an average area of 4 ha for productive habitats. In hydric reclamation, we identified more than 96% of the habitats as non-productive. However, only 6.7% of forest reclamation land, 4.4% of ‘other’ reclamation land, and 2.6% of agricultural reclamation land have been officially classified as non-productive habitat. Supported by a case study and our literature review, we have developed a typology of non-productive post-mining habitats. The typology systematizes non-productive habitats and makes clear recommendations for their establishment and management measures. The typology can be communicated to a multi-stakeholder audience to increase the knowledge baseline for incorporating non-productive habitats into post-mining land use.