English

Abstract

Limestone quarries are the most important open cast mining activities in Portugal. Obtaining public acceptance in a rehabilitation project is still considered a challenge. This challenge can be accomplished by reducing the visual adverse impacts and by incorporating aesthetic aspects in quarry rehabilitation projects. With the development of more stringent practice codes and environmentally based guidelines, quarry managers must provide more detailed and comprehensive environmental impact assessment along with their development plans. The visual impact assessment should be made available for public review and demonstrate that the proposed operations will achieve the visual quality objectives. Geographic information systems provide a remarkably efficient means of understanding impacts of quarrying in mountainous areas which is often lost in two-dimensional presentations. To facilitate this understanding, new technologies similar to those found in a flight simulator, were developed to help people visualize change. In this study it will be presented the reclamation project and the visual impact assessment of a group of limestone quarries in the fragmented Mediterranean landscape of Algarve, Portugal. Viewshed analysis of the quarries showed what areas of the disturbed surface can be seen by observers for any visible position and how many observers can see the position. The reclamation method could help governmental officials to take the appropriate decision: accept, reject or suggest aesthetical modifications in any proposed project of the study area.