Monetary Assessment of Restored Habitats as a Support Tool for Sustainable Landscape Management in Lowland Cultural Landscapes

Abstract

Surfaces directly influenced by mining and post-mining have risen to prominence in the field of restoration ecology. It is important to gain a better understanding of sustainable landscape management in lowland European cultural landscapes. Sand and gravel-pit areas were selected as study sites, where mining activities have been the main factor in land use over recent decades. The post-mining restoration of each area disturbed by mining processes was planned according to legally enforced technical and biological restoration protocols, as well as a specific document entitled the Biological Action Plan (BAP). The financial costs of BAPs for individual study sites were compared with the monetary value of habitats over three time periods. The economic evaluation was based on the assessment method of ecological harm to habitats carried out in Hesse (Germany). The results show that the restoration of target habitats after mining will establish and gradually develop new natural habitats with a higher monetary value than before mining, which become refuges of biodiversity in cultural landscapes. The results also indicate that the ecological restoration of post-mining areas can result in a higher monetary value of the restored natural habitats in comparison to the original habitats which were destroyed by mining.

Responses of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents and stoichiometry in soil and fine roots to natural vegetation restoration in a tropical mountainous area, Southern China

“…Natural vegetation succession as a restoration mechanism is a common phenomenon in many human-disturbed sites around the world ( Brus et al., 2020 ; Mudrák et al., 2021 ). Vegetation restoration is a synergetic process of plants and the soil environment that can improve nutrient cycling and soil quality of degraded ecosystems ( Xu et al., 2019 ).…”

Landscape as Digital Content and a Smart Tourism Resource in the Mining Area of Cartagena-La Unión (Spain)

“…Although mining area landscape studies are relatively abundant, many refer to ecological conditions and environmental protection planning after the abandonment of the mines [18,19], and few publications have focused on the scenic conditions left after mining stops, and on how to apply new technologies to promote culture and tourism. Sometimes they refer to their advantages for smart management of destinations and their associated landscapes [20], and other times they address the opportunities for disseminating mining or industrial heritage values in education [21].…”

Ecosystem Services of Vegetation Features as the Multifunction Anti-Erosion Measures in the Czech Republic in 2019 and Its 30-Year Prediction

“…All the values mentioned as "target" represent medium-or long-term estimation according to the contemporary state and possible development due to the usual generally known evolution of the similar vegetation features. Expected development of the bosks could be potentially threatened by external factors, which can negatively influence seedlings vitality, e.g., unfavorable weather (ground freezers, drought) [88][89][90], game damage (browsing by ungulates or hares) [91][92][93][94] vole damage on the root system, weeding by reed grass or thistles [95,96]. In case of secure failure, the bosks against the damage, the expected value increase could continuously decrease.…”