Working with Natural Processes: Restoring a Mining Landscape in the High Arctic, Svalbard, Norway

Abstract

The Svea coal mines in Svalbard have been closed, and the area is under restoration. The goal of the landscape restoration was to enable dynamic ecological and geomorphological processes by removing roads, housing, industrial facilities, airports, landfills, and quarries that once dominated the area. Cultural heritage features, such as pre-1946 buildings, structures, and mining traces, have been preserved, while the rest of the landscape has been restored to a near-natural state. The focus has been restoring geodiversity in this arctic environment, where biotic processes are slow. Geomorphological processes such as glacial, slope, fluvial, coastal, and permafrost processes dominate and give the landscape its geological character. The objective of the restoration is not merely to re-create the landscape’s previous appearance but rather to ensure that natural processes can function as they did in the past, contributing to the ongoing development and evolution of all restored land surfaces. As of 2023, most of the area has already been restored. In areas with rapid geomorphological processes, the land will soon be dominated by these processes. Revegetation is one of the major ecological processes the restoration seeks to facilitate. Revegetation is a slow process in arctic environments, and it will take many decades before vegetation covers restored bare surfaces. The project forms a valuable baseline for studying and discussing geomorphology, landscape dynamics, geodiversity, biodiversity, and ecology for nature management and landscape restoration.

Case studies associated with the 10 major geodiversity-related topics

“…Other fields in which physical landscape restoration takes place include quarry or pit restoration once quarrying or mining has ceased [67]. Erikstad et al [68] describe the landscape restoration of the former Svea coal mines in Svalbard, Norway with the aim of enabling dynamic geomorphological and ecological processes to operate. The project involved the removal of roads, houses, industrial facilities, airports, landfills and quarries, but preservation of heritage features including pre-1946 buildings, structures and mining traces.…”

Remodeling of Abandoned Land: A Review of Landscape Regeneration and the Reconstruction of Urban Landfill Sites

“…Therefore, in order to maintain the original natural landscape community of the landfill site and reduce the damage to the original ecosystem during the landscape regeneration and transformation of the site, it is necessary to do a good job in the preliminary ecological survey of the landfill site. Norway scholars Erikstad, Lars and Hagen, Dagmar [100], American planner and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted [101], and Chinese scholars Zheng Xiaodi [102] and Zhu Yufan [103] all suggest that landfill landscape regeneration should be based on the perspective of urban history, actively explore the core cultural elements of the place, and focus on the excavation and collation of the spirit of the place. On the other hand, Neil Heywood suggests that the integration of landscape architecture, design, and sociology should be strengthened.…”