Mining in a changing climate: what scope for forestry-based legacies?

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

卷:84

Article

Hirons, Mark¹  Hilson, Gavin³  Asase, Alex⁴  Hodson, Mark E.² 

[1] Univ Reading, Sch Agr Policy & Dev, Reading RG6 6AR, Berks, England

[2] Univ York, Dept Environm, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England

[3] Univ Surrey, Fac Business Econ & Law, Surrey Business Sch, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, England

[4] Univ Ghana, Dept Bot, Legon, Ghana

关键词: Mining;    Reclamation;    Land-use change;    Forest-legacies;    Carbon finance;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.11.025

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

This paper provides an interdisciplinary perspective on mine reclamation in forested areas of Ghana, a country characterised by conflicts between mining and forest conservation. A comparison was made between above ground biomass (AGB) and soil organic carbon (SOC) content from two reclaimed mine sites and adjacent undisturbed forest. Findings suggest that on decadal timescales, reclaimed mine sites contain approximately 40% of the total carbon and 10% the AGB carbon of undisturbed forest. This raises questions regarding the potential for decommissioning mine sites to provide forestry-based legacies. Such a move could deliver a host of benefits, including improving the longevity and success of reclamation, mitigating climate change and delivering corollary enumeration for local communities under carbon trading schemes. A discussion of the antecedents and challenges associated with establishing forest-legacies highlights the risk of neglecting the participation and heterogeneity of legitimate local representatives,, which threatens the equity of potential benefits and sustainability of projects. Despite these risks, implementing pilot projects could help to address the lack of transparency and data which currently characterises mine reclamation. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free