Recovery of Agricultural Areas Affected by Traditional Gold Mining: Sustainable Food Supply Stability

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the recovery of the agricultural area’s function affected by the Poboya traditional gold mining in supporting the stability of sustainable food supply. We began the research by examining the existing mining land conditions through spatial analysis (land cover and land use changes from 2010 to 2019). Apart from that, it also analyzed the land’s health was through the soil’s physical and chemical properties, especially mercury. The observation proved that changes in the land’s cover and uses lead to decreased land quality and degradation. The existing condition showed heavy metals, particularly mercury, mostly polluted agricultural land in the mining area. The model design produced by this study may 1) emphasize land arrangement; 2) revegetation design with forestry, plantation, and food crops; 3) domesticated plant; and 4) environmental monitoring, concerning monitoring of soil quality, monitoring of erosion and sedimentation, water quality, acid mine drainage, successful revegetation, and others. These four aspects expect to help suppress the rate of land degradation in agriculture located in ex-mining areas and reduce forest destruction in the Grand Forest Park area.