Ecological restoration and land reclamation in open-cast mines in Shanxi Province, China

Although a major contributor to economic development, the mining industry in China produces a large amount of derelict land, and causes pollution of water and soil erosion as well as other environmental damage. Large areas of degraded mining land remains barren preventing agricultural, social and economically sustainable development in affected areas. As land is under short supply in China, exacerbated by the rapidly expanding population, it is now policy to restore or reclaim land degraded by mining. The aim is to develop sustainable and healthy arable-land ecosystems. This paper outlines the principles and approaches to ecological restoration, which have been adopted in Shanxi Province with reference to three typical surface mines. (C) 2000 Academic Press.