In recent years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to ecological restoration of mines. In 2019, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the "Opinions on Exploring and Using Market-oriented Methods to Promote Ecological Restoration of Mines"; In the "National Major Ecosystem Protection and Restoration Major Projects Master Plan (2021-2035)" issued in June this year, 21 places mentioned the "ecological restoration of mines".

Some typical cases of ecological restoration have also emerged throughout the country. For example, the Lianhua Mountain in Hainan Province used to rely on the mountain for food and large amounts of lime ore mining, leaving six huge pits. The vegetation was severely damaged, and the waste rock piled up into mountains, threatening the safety of humans and animals. In 2018, Hainan Agriculture Reclamation Tourism Group began to carry out ecological restoration, combining ecological restoration, cultural industry, and residential industry development according to local conditions, and turning abandoned mines into gold. Not only successfully solved the ecological problem of the open-pit mine left over from history, but also created the Lianhua Mountain Cultural Scenic Spot. The restored mine pit has brought more than 400 job opportunities to local people, and it has become the first quasi-4A scenic spot in western Hainan.

For the ecological restoration of mines, the author suggests that the four principles of saving, nature, finite restoration and macro must be practiced in the restoration process.

The principle of saving. Ecological restoration projects in mines must insist on giving priority to saving, because every kilowatt-hour of electricity and every drop of water has resource and environmental costs. The disposal of abandoned mine slag piles should focus on natural restoration and try to use "Nature-based Solutions" to carry out restoration to reduce the consumption of natural resources and energy and reduce secondary pollution.

The principle of nature. Naturally, we must pay attention to the word "suitable” and proceed with the restoration according to local conditions. For example, when restoring vegetation on abandoned sites, it is first necessary to fully consider native species suitable for the local environment to ensure biodiversity. For example, it is not advisable to plant tall trees on a large scale in desert areas to avoid excessive use of groundwater resources.

The principle of finiteness. Avoid excessive restoration, because excessive restoration often means high governance costs.

The principle of macro. Mine restoration should establish the overall view and overall view of mine ecological restoration, adhere to the principle that mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes and grasses are communities of life, and consider the entire project on a more macroscopic time and space scale. Anxious and superficial restoration projects often fall short. Successful restoration is not a matter of years, and it will take ten years or more to see results.

(The author is the Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.)

Original Chinese article:

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2020-09/29/content_2011462.htm

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