English

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine the implications and opportunities the emerging soil carbon and land use policies have for the surface mining industry. Policies for the protection and sustainable use of natural soils in the UK have evolved from a simple land capability reinstatement focus of the later decades of the 20 th Century to the current and new concepts of ecosystem service impacts for land use planning and assessment. Ecosystem services include the diverse role of soils as well as their adaptive response to climate change and mitigation, soil health and sustainable food production. Of the various foci, soil carbon has been in the recent forefront of UK soil policy development, albeit it largely a matter of principle and aspiration in conserving the carbon stock in soils to avoid contributing further to the greenhouse gas inventory. However, at the present time, the evidence base is believed to be incomplete for full and reliable technical based guidance in the UK. In respect of carbon rich organic soils there is clearer and specific guidance. This has arisen, not through surface mining, but largely through wind farm developments (for sustainable energy generation terms of carbon net benefit), and review of farming and forestation practices on carbon rich soils (that are typically associated with both the UK’s windier uplands and low lying coastal land). In terms of surface mining, the current guidance is limited to the exposure of former underground coal workings where a formula is given to offset the emission of methane through tree planting. However, it is anticipated, as general land use policy develops alongside a growing evidence base, that specific guidance and operational expectations will be forthcoming. This may be an opportunity for the mining industry to respond with its own innovative proposals. Additional