New Curtin research has found the impact of mining on animals is overlooked in most mine site restoration assessments, prompting a call for greater onus to be put on mine operators to restore animal communities after mining.<\/p>\n
The study, published in journal Pacific Conservation Biology<\/em>, involved a global review of literature relating to mine site restoration and found\u00a0that fauna was under-recognised in assessments of restoration success.<\/p>\n Lead author PhD student Sophie Cross, from the ARC Centre for Mine Site Restoration (CMSR) in Curtin\u2019s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said the research highlighted a need for an increased focus on\u00a0fauna monitoring and behavioural studies as a way of understanding the long-term success of mine site restoration.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough mining activity creates a relatively small footprint on the land, 75 per cent of active mine sites are situated on land considered to be of high conservation value,\u201d Ms Cross said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnimals are often assumed to return to the area of a mine site following its closure and the return of vegetation; however, in practice restoring animal communities and biodiversity can be exceptionally challenging.<\/p>\n \u201cOur research highlights the need for more detailed consideration of animal communities in mine site restoration, as the common method of vegetation surveys alone may not be sufficient to ascertain the long-term success of restoration measures in effectively reinstating healthy, functional animal communities and ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n The study found that over a 49-year period, just 101 peer reviewed publications reporting on fauna as part of mining restoration activities, with over half from Australia.<\/p>\n Research supervisor Associate Professor Bill Bateman, from Curtin\u2019s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said that while there was an urgent need to consider fauna in mine site restoration, the good news was that Australia was leading the way in this, with the bulk of such research taking place here.<\/p>\n \u201cOur study has highlighted the importance of comprehensively and representatively restoring faunal communities after mining,\u201d Professor Bateman said.<\/p>\n