A responsible and resilient reclamation thus requires integration of societal demands, technical limitations of mine covers and the biological constraints and possibilities of the Arctic.
While Europe looks to the North to develop its autonomy regarding critical metals for the green transition and the mitigation of global warming. Apart from supplying European countries in need, mining has undeniable impact locally, on landscapes, water, terrestrial ecosystems, and people who live there. From the initial operations to closure, mining lasts years or decades, while closed mines are forever – and therefore careful and thoughtful considerations are needed.
Mine reclamation normally focuses on technical performance and often overlooks other interests. As voiced by several actors, this narrow perspective will no longer do. Methods and insights are needed to meet the particularities of the Arctic conditions and the needs and wishes of its inhabitants. Reclamation offers opportunities to co-create new landscapes according to demands and wishes of local communities, including their practices, knowledges, and lessons learnt from former operations, at an early stage of the mining activities.
This multidisciplinary project addresses the working process of mine reclamation, gathering biologists, engineers and anthropologists from institutions in Denmark, Greenland, Norway and Sweden. It includes testing of methods to improve soils (engineering), investigating ecological restoration and revegetation (natural sciences) while securing the involvement of local people in the ongoing reclamation process (social science). In dialogue with local communities, researchers aim to favor the integration of restored sites into the local ecosystem while considering local communities’ future livelihoods.
The project outcomes are recommendations and guidelines on how to address different interests to improve the mine reclamation process. The project will produce publicly available reference material to allow informed decisions from all stakeholders in future projects. Understanding the needs, constraints, benefits and detriments, as well as challenges encountered by local communities and ecosystems in the Arctic is a prerequisite to responsible and resilient retrocession of mine sites.
