Mining Rehabilitation in New South Wales （Australia） and Germany

The rehabilitation of coal mines is an up-to-date issue, heavily discussed not only by the industry but also by scientists and the adjacent communities since open cut coal mining has extensive impacts affecting all parties. Whereas, before and during the mining process not only nature but sometimes also the population of a whole region has to give way to a mine, the consequences of the operations remain long after mining closure. Typically a once intact and functioning ecosystem is replaced with a destroyed wideness evocative of a moon landscape. Fortunately, the awareness of the need to rehabilitate the destroyed nature is increasing steadily and all involved parties are making efforts to improve the situation, even if it is a major challenge to bring all parties to a consensus. Therefore, a legislative basis is required and the know-how of optimal rehabilitation solutions must be developed. In this article the rehabilitation of mined land in Australia and Germany are compared. More precisely the article will present an overview of the legislative regulations, certain applied methods of rehabilitation work and the problems that are likely to occur in respect to the influence of mining on nature.