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