An ecosystem services approach for planning and evaluating mine site rehabilitation

• Grant number: 17/10557-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: December 11, 2017
• End date: March 10, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mining Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Luis Enrique Sánchez
• Grantee: Luis Enrique Sánchez
• Host Investigator: Angus Morrison-Saunders
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Murdoch University, Australia

Abstract

The ecosystem services concept - currently applied to several planning and decision-making contexts - can be used to evaluate outcomes of mine site rehabilitation. An Ecosystem Services Approach to Rehabilitation (ESAR) is being developed on the basis of a conceptual construction and field-tests in two bauxite mines, located in Juruti (Brazil) and Pinjarra (Australia). In both cases, strip mining allows for progressive rehabilitation while decades-long life of mine provides room for long-term adaptive management. While Juruti mine has been in operation since 2009, Western Australian bauxite mines have a long history of rehabilitation monitoring data and evaluation of results. In both cases, land rehabilitation aims at restoring the structure and functions of their respective forest ecosystems. The extent to which such efforts are also conducive to restoring ecosystem services, both to local and global beneficiaries, is the endpoint of ESAR. Example ecosystem services and their indicators are selected in each case, and checked against indicators and monitoring data currently collected for regulatory or management purposes (e.g. tree growth and species diversity). The research component described here aims at critically reviewing the revised version of ESAR (after its field test in Australia), further improving its components, and identifying its limitations. The framework will be peer-reviewed through (i) a questionnaire sent to experts and (ii) a workshop with researchers, regulators and industry specialists.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SALES ROSA, JOSIANNE CLAUDIA; GENELETTI, DAVIDE; MORRISON-SAUNDERS, ANGUS; SANCHEZ, LUIS ENRIQUE; HUGHES, MICHAEL. To what extent can mine rehabilitation restore recreational use of forest land? Learning from 50 years of practice in southwest Australia. LAND USE POLICY, v. 90, JAN 2020. (16/23021-1, 17/10557-3, 14/22927-1)

ROSA, JOSIANNE C. S.; MORRISON-SAUNDERS, ANGUS; HUGHES, MICHAEL; SANCHEZ, LUIS E.. Planning mine restoration through ecosystem services to enhance community engagement and deliver social benefits. RESTORATION ECOLOGY, v. 28, n. 4, JUN 2020. (16/23021-1, 17/10557-3, 14/22927-1)