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

Although a major contributor to economic development, the mining industry i n China produces a large amount of derelict land, and causes pollution of w ater and soil erosion as well as other environmental damage. Large areas of degraded mining land remains barren preventing agricultural, social and ec onomically sustainable development in affected areas. As land is under shor t supply in China, exacerbated by the rapidly expanding population, it is n ow policy to restore or reclaim land degraded by mining. The aim is to deve lop sustainable and healthy arable-land ecosystems. This paper outlines the principles and approaches to ecological restoration, which have been adopt ed in Shanxi Province with reference to three typical surface mines. (C) 20 00 Academic Press.