For three days in April, Enetjärn Natur, now Ecogain, and Svemin organized a study trip to the UK to study ecological rehabilitation of mines and quarries. Consultant Sara Carlsén, who organized the trip and who previously worked in England, wants to raise the issue with Swedish companies:
"Ecological rehabilitation of mines and quarries has great potential to restore valuable natural environments and recreational areas for local residents. The UK is often seen as a pioneering country where mining and quarrying companies have been working with ecologists and non-profit organizations for decades. This is now starting to pay off, with some of the country's most species-rich wetlands and meadows established in old quarries."
Successful approaches to nature conservation and aftercare
During the study tour, we visited two sites of the British quarrying company Tarmac, both of which provided valuable insights into their working methods.
Panshanger Park in Hertfordshire is an ancient estate with English parkland and century-old oak trees. There, Tarmac has demonstrated that it is possible to combine mineral extraction with nature conservation to create an even more biodiverse landscape through selective sand mining. In Panshanger Park in particular, they have created a series of lakes, wetlands and a restored river.
At Halecombe Quarry in Somerset, Tarmac demonstrated the biodiversity management plans tool, which aims to achieve a net positive impact on biodiversity. Tarmac cited transparency and cooperation with local residents as the main success factor for a successful rehabilitation. On the site, they have built a nature school for local children, and the non-profit Wildlife Trust helps with the long-term management of the grassland.
Eden Project shows creative possibilities
Finally, we visited the iconic Eden Project in Cornwall, once a clay quarry and now a tourist attraction. In two large greenhouses, they have created rainforest and Mediterranean environments respectively, and their zip lines, concert halls and conference facilities showed the creative possibilities for finishing.
