Sustainable Post-Industrial Land Restoration and Re-Creation of High Biodiversity Natural

Sustainable post-industrial land restoration and re-creation of high biodiversity natural habitats

LIFE99 ENV/UK/000211

Inception Report

Institute of Environmental Science, University of Wales Bangor

Table of Contents

1.Identification

2.Introduction

3.Overview

3.1Environmental Problems and issues tackled by the project

3.2Hypotheses

3.3Quantification of objectives and means of verification

3.4How the objectives will be achieved

3.5Current state-of-the-art

3.6Minimum standard required by current legislation/administrative systems

3.7Expertise and feasibility

3.8How cost/benefit assessment are to be carried out

3.9Potential for replication/transferability

3.10Sustainability of the project beyond the end of LIFE funding

4.Project Partnership

5.Project Tasks

5.MProject Management

5.DProject Dissemination

5.1 - 5.12Tasks 1-12

6.GANTT Charts

1. Identification

Project title: Sustainable post-industrial land restoration and re-creation of high biodiversity natural habitats

Project reference number: LIFE99 ENV/UK/000211

Project duration: 1 October 1999-30 September 2002

Beneficiary: Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL572UW, UK

Project manager: Professor Mark Baird

Contact details: Department of Chemistry, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL572UW, UK; telephone: +44 1248 382375; fax: +44 1248 370528; email:

Financial officer: Mr Paul Storey

Contact details: Finance Office, Cae Derwen, College Road, Univesity of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK; telephone: +44 1248 382466; fax: +44 1248 382042; email:

Website address – if relevant:

2. Introduction

This project will demonstrate an innovative method for the sustainable ecological and environmental restoration of disused waste tips in slate mines and other non-toxic quarries to a semi-natural condition of high biodiversity value. It will take place at three sites in Europe, differing in climate or substrate, to show the wide applicability of the new method. The largest slate quarry in Europe, Penrhyn Quarry in North Wales (UK) will act as the primary demonstration site with further demonstration plots located at the Villar del Rey slate quarry, Badajoz (Spain) and at the Dan Morrissey Ltd quarry in Wicklow (Ireland).

Aims: The Institute of Environmental Science aims to demonstrate a new, cost effective and sustainable method which will greatly accelerate the regeneration of non-toxic post-industrial land which is desertificated due to the presence of coarse substrate material. The project will recreate semi-natural conditions of high biodiversity value and, as a consequence, significantly reduce the current negative visual impact of Penrhyn Quarry, North Wales which adjoins the Snowdonia National Park (an area of high touristic value to the region).

The project will also provide local authorities with a “best practice” model to improve planning strategies in relation to existing or planned industrial sites of this type; thereby raising environmental awareness in the industry. Simultaneously, the industry will benefit from a cost effective method for reducing their negative environmental impact without sacrificing their competitive ability as encouraged by Agenda 21 and the 5th Action Programme on the Environment

Approach and Methods: This restoration project will be primarily based at Penrhyn Quarry in Wales as this is the largest slate quarry in Europe. In the second and third years of the project, demonstration plots will also be placed by the Life team at smaller quarries in Spain (Villar del Rey) and Ireland (Morrissey). To date, some ecological and environmental restoration work has been carried out at Penrhyn Quarry; however, the standard methods applied have shown varying degrees of success. The main reasons for this have been identified as the spatial variability of the waste material, the poor availability of water and nutrients from the coarse substrate, poor choice of planting material and inadequate consideration of local socio-economic factors and popular opinion over landscape and heritage.

This project will develop and demonstrate innovative technologies and vegetation regeneration strategies for these sites in close liaison with the relevant stakeholders, including statutory authorities, environmental consultancies, local organisations and people. The methodological structure used will incorporate environmental, landscape, heritage and socio-economic survey, innovative soil conditioning technologies, improved genetic selection of planting material, and adaptation of natural regeneration and primary successional processes in modern ecological strategies. This will demonstrate the sustainable restoration of non-toxic quarries to sites of high biodiversity and conservation value.

In each of the three sites, demonstration plots will be prepared for restoration across a wide range of environmental conditions. Rigorously designed systematic trials will be established to demonstrate the success of alternative innovative restoration techniques/strategies in the creation of semi-natural habitats of sustainable biodiversity that conform with diagnostic criteria inherent in the EU Habitats Directive. Such restoration aims to re-create important habitats recognized at both the national and European level, such as Dry Heath (recognized as significant under the EU Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC- CORINE Habitat 31.212, 31.225, UK-NVC H8 & H10). Cost-benefit analyses of these restoration techniques will also be performed.

Dissemination: The main tool for dissemination will be a “best practice” manual in which the Planning and Economic Department of the North Wales local authority have already expressed a keen interest. It will be used by them to improve environmental policy and raise environmental awareness in the industrial sector. Furthermore, it will be promoted to other local authorities in the UK and, after translation, to local authorities in other European states. Additionally, the manual will be published on the Internet in multiple languages. Seminars will also be held at all participating partners for future planning and training purposes and the Institute of Environmental Science will use the sites as “good practice” examples in its training of future land reclamation experts.

3. Overview

3.1 Environmental problems and issues tackled by the project

Extent of the problem

A recent Forestry Commission report has indicated that there are some 6,000 hectares of damaged/derelict former industrial land in Wales (‘The Way Ahead for Welsh Forestry’, Forestry Commission). A UK Dept of the Environment report has also stated recently that there are 1900 hectares of current or ceased slate workings in the UK (‘Slate Waste Tips and Workings in Britain’, DOE, UK; Table 1). Planning permission has been granted for another 500 ha in the UK. Waste tips are found in Cornwall, Cumbria and the Highlands of Scotland but predominantly in North and Mid Wales. There are also extensive slate workings in France, Spain and Germany and general non-toxic mineral extraction sites in all EU countries. The total amount of slate waste in the UK alone has been estimated at 500 million tonnes with 6 million tonnes added each year. This is because, despite modern extraction and production techniques, 98% of quarried material is waste (usually tipped) and only 2% is saleable product.

Post-industrial land is an inevitable consequence of the extractive industry. Wales was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution during the last century and it has many areas of derelict land dating from these activities. Currently active industries, particularly the extractive industries also create waste land, some of which, due to its location or topography, is unlikely to be used for other commercial, residential or productive activities and can therefore be restored. The restoration standards expected of mineral operators are increasing and there is an ever growing demand for technology development and guidance which will achieve these ends in the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable manner. In the UK, the slate workings are predominantly in areas of extremely high landscape quality and in many areas quarrying has transformed the original landscape beyond recognition (e.g. Penrhyn Quarry).

Table 1. Summary of slate workings within the UK (source DOE, 1995)

Nature of the problem

Slate waste tips have been referred to as ‘temperate deserts’ because of their inability to support natural ‘unaided’ revegetation (DOE, 1995). Slate waste tips are generally much more resistant to natural colonization by vegetation than are most other forms of mineral extraction waste (e.g. coal spoils). This is due to the coarse particle size and extremely free drainage of slate waste, its resistance to weathering and the lack of plant nutrients. In addition, many sites are elevated and exposed, further limiting the rate of colonization. The slate waste is not contaminated by toxic chemicals and the environmental problems addressed by this project are more concerned with the physical rather than toxic problems of the substrate. On the positive side, abandoned slate workings provide breeding and roosting sites for birds, bats and other mammals and, with careful management, they can greatly enhance the biodiversity of an area. The majority of current slate-producing sites in Britain are still extracting and surface tipping on land with little or no planning for restoration while approximately 10% of the areas are abandoned (Table 1). These disused slate waste tips also present environmental hazards in that they frequently include unguarded quarry faces, deteriorating structures and unstable tip retaining walls.

Social implications

Many slate workings are located within or next to National Parks, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The visual impact of these workings can be significant despite the relatively small areas involved. Perceptions of slate workings and especially the waste tips range from an unacceptable disfigurement of otherwise beautiful landscapes with high touristic value, to an essential component of the cultural heritage of communities which only exist because of the slate industry. The restoration of slate workings will therefore require maintaining a balanced approach to these perceptions, seeking to reduce the negative impacts of workings without reducing their historical interest. Another important social factor is the apparent expectations of the general public in restoration schemes of this nature. Specifically, this refers to their apparent desire for an ‘instant landscape’ and for ‘rapid greening’ to take place. This rapid greening, however, is frequently followed by rapid deterioration and restoration failure (see below for more details).

3.2 Hypotheses

1. The establishment of natural vegetation of slate waste tip sites by the process of primary succession can be accelarated by: the engineering of the waste tip, substrate amendments, protection from predation, addition of propagules, planting.
2. The relative success of each technique will vary between environments (between and within each of the project sites).
3. Specific matching of technique to site environment will improve the cost-effectiveness of restoration.
4. The use of plants of local genetic provenance will give improved survival rates
5. Successful generation is key for plant success
6. Locally eutrophic environments around plants immediately planting will not result in good plant survival rates

3.3 Quantification of objectives and means of verification

The project will initially be of a demonstrative nature with six restoration blocks with a total area of 9,600 m2 containing at least 20,000 plants established in the upland zone (mainly heathers) and 5,000 in the lowland zone (mainly trees) in Wales alone. The size of the restoration areas in Spain and Ireland will each cover 2500 m2. By the end of the project we aim to have demonstrated novel protocols which allow for the accelerated regeneration of desertificated, post-industrial land which contains a coarse, non-toxic substrate.

We will test a series of planting media and plants and study the effects of changing climate and substrate.

The following data will be collected to verify that the project objectives have been met. GIS will be used to collate this data as appropriate:-

• Socio-economic survey
• Biodiversity
• Rooting success
• Plant success (biomass etc.)
• Nutrient and water availability
• Measurements of planting media (e.g. PAM gels) breakdown

We hope that the local community will play a key role in the project through the Web site, school visits, Open Days at the site and dissemination meetings/literature. This will be an important aspect of the socio-economic work and evaluation at the end of the project.

3.4 How the objectives will be achieved

It is expected that within the three-year lifespan of the project successful demonstration plots will be established at the Penrhyn Quarry, Villar del Rey and Dan Morrissey sites. The first six to twelve months will be involved in the setting-up of the project, participatory socio-economic and landscape appraisal, environmental survey and assessment, selection of planting material and establishment of demonstration plots. The remaining 24-30 months will be used to monitor results on the establishment success of plants under each of the different conditions. The first 12 months will be based primarily at Penrhyn Quarry after which, demonstration plots will be set up at the European partner sites.

It is not envisaged that full semi-natural environments be recreated during the three-year project phase, but that the plots will start to show signs of accelerated plant natural regeneration and vegetation succession. After after three years we will be able to report on the relative survival and growth of plants that have established under different conditions. We will also undertake harvesting of a sample of the trial plants near the end of the project to examine their below-ground development. Recent research has shown that plants that have established a greater below-ground biomass (with deeper root penetration, rather than a superficial root system) will have better prospects for long-term success than those that have allocated all their biomass to above-ground growth. In addition, a refocusing of the biodiversity task (6) towards functional aspects of below-ground diversity will also increase our capacity to make useful early predictions of longer-term success. Recent research has also shown that establishment of below-ground biodiversity will be a good predictor of the rate of establishment of other, more visible, above-ground vertebrate and plant biodiversity. Thus, from this 36-month study the value of innovative planting medium compositions, quantity and location and the way in which it needs to be varied in different environmental conditions will be demonstrated at North Welsh, Spanish and Irish sites.

The key to the project’s factual recommendations about longer-term plant establishment success on slate waste-tip sites will come from monitoring of sites that have restored on a trial basis over the past twenty years using a variety of methods. Professor John Good (an external contractor to the project) is a key expert in this past work and has already recommended sites at Cwm Penmachno. The key wider set of sites, e.g. at Corris Uchaf, are reviewed in DoE (1995) and they will be revisited and assessed by the LIFE project staff.

From our comparison of the success of tree/vegetation establishment in contrasting slate tip environments we will be able to make firm recommendations about the way in which future slate waste should be tipped/engineered to create an environment most amenable to restoration. During the three years, generic protocols for all stages of the restoration process including environmental assessment, selection of local and tolerant species and genotypes of planting material, site preparation and management, and monitoring will be developed and written up as a "best practice" manual in response to the need expressed by Gwynedd Council who are committed to disseminate these recommendations to all relevant planning bodies in the UK. This report will also be disseminated to all participating partners and will be published on the Internet.

A summary of the expected results is given below:

1. Environmental, conservation, biodiversity, socio-economic, landscape and heritage opportunities and impact of the restoration programme assessed

1. Comparison made of the rate of vegetation regeneration in treated demonstration plots relative to unmanaged controls

1. Information obtained on the most cost-effective combinations of sustainable restoration methods for different site environments

1. Comparison of the impact of alternative substrate ameliorative techniques including the use of polyacrylamide gels and other organic additives on restoration success

1. Generic protocols for all stages of the restoration process developed and disseminated

1. Timescales and costs required to achieve ‘full’ semi-natural habitat creation quantified.

3.5 Current state-of-the-art

Due to the cost of transport and the sheer volume of slate waste (500 million tonnes in the UK), its use as a ‘secondary’ mineral has been constrained. At present, the removal of slate waste is insignificant in relation to the volume being generated or the size of the existing waste tips and it is unlikely that this situation will alter in the near future. The most practical solution to this problem (and that of other non-toxic mineral workings) therefore relies on the reclamation and restoration of the site with the ultimate aim of recreating a natural landscape with high biodiversity and amenity value. The history of many slate extraction sites shows that it is unrealistic to expect the rapid natural (unaided) development of high biodiversity vegetation. Indeed, this is evidenced by the very minimal unaided regeneration which has occurred at many of the sites over the last 150 years. The main study area at Penrhyn Quarry still remains a ‘temperate desert’ with very little natural regeneration. The aim of this project is to demonstrate a method to accelerate natural regeneration and secondary successional processes such that a sustainable semi-natural vegetation of high biodiversity, conservation and amenity value can be achieved within a cost effective framework and achievable life span. The two types of habitats which we wish to recreate are Dry Heath and Mixed Deciduous Woodland. The techniques employed to achieve this will include; the use of genetic material of local provenance, cell planting strategies and substrate ameliorative techniques including the use of synthetic water retaining polyacrylamide gel polymers and other organic additives such as paper processing waste, singly and in combination.