Project title: Sustainable post-industrial land restoration and re-creation of high biodiversity natural habitats

Project reference number: LIFE99 ENV/UK/000211

Project duration: 1 October 1999-30 September 2002

Beneficiary: Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK

Project manager: Professor Mark Baird

Contact details: Department of Chemistry, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK; telephone: +44 1248 382375; fax: +44 1248 370528; email: chs058@bangor.ac.uk

Financial officer: Mr Paul Storey

Contact details: Finance Office, Cae Derwen, College Road, Univesity of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK; telephone: +44 1248 382466; fax: +44 1248 382042; email: FOS017@bangor.ac.uk

Website address – if relevant: http://www.safs.bangor.ac.uk/dj/

This project will demonstrate an innovative method for the sustainable ecological and environmental restoration of disused waste tips in slate mines and other non-toxic quarries to a semi-natural condition of high biodiversity value. It will take place at three sites in Europe, differing in climate or substrate, to show the wide applicability of the new method. The largest slate quarry in Europe, Penrhyn Quarry in North Wales (UK) will act as the primary demonstration site with further demonstration plots located at the Villar del Rey slate quarry, Badajoz (Spain) and at the Dan Morrissey Ltd quarry in Wicklow (Ireland).

Aims: The Institute of Environmental Science aims to demonstrate a new, cost effective and sustainable method which will greatly accelerate the regeneration of non-toxic post-industrial land which is desertificated due to the presence of coarse substrate material. The project will recreate semi-natural conditions of high biodiversity value and, as a consequence, significantly reduce the current negative visual impact of Penrhyn Quarry, North Wales which adjoins the Snowdonia National Park (an area of high touristic value to the region).

The project will also provide local authorities with a "best practice" model to improve planning strategies in relation to existing or planned industrial sites of this type; thereby raising environmental awareness in the industry. Simultaneously, the industry will benefit from a cost effective method for reducing their negative environmental impact without sacrificing their competitive ability as encouraged by Agenda 21 and the 5th Action Programme on the Environment

Approach and Methods: This restoration project will be primarily based at Penrhyn Quarry in Wales as this is the largest slate quarry in Europe. In the second and third years of the project, demonstration plots will also be placed by the Life team at smaller quarries in Spain (Villar del Rey) and Ireland (Morrissey). To date, some ecological and environmental restoration work has been carried out at Penrhyn Quarry; however, the standard methods applied have shown varying degrees of success. The main reasons for this have been identified as the spatial variability of the waste material, the poor availability of water and nutrients from the coarse substrate, poor choice of planting material and inadequate consideration of local socio-economic factors and popular opinion over landscape and heritage.

This project will develop and demonstrate innovative technologies and vegetation regeneration strategies for these sites in close liaison with the relevant stakeholders, including statutory authorities, environmental consultancies, local organisations and people. The methodological structure used will incorporate environmental, landscape, heritage and socio-economic survey, innovative soil conditioning technologies, improved genetic selection of planting material, and adaptation of natural regeneration and primary successional processes in modern ecological strategies. This will demonstrate the sustainable restoration of non-toxic quarries to sites of high biodiversity and conservation value.

In each of the three sites, demonstration plots will be prepared for restoration across a wide range of environmental conditions. Rigorously designed systematic trials will be established to demonstrate the success of alternative innovative restoration techniques/strategies in the creation of semi-natural habitats of sustainable biodiversity that conform with diagnostic criteria inherent in the EU Habitats Directive. Such restoration aims to re-create important habitats recognized at both the national and European level, such as Dry Heath (recognized as significant under the EU Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC- CORINE Habitat 31.212, 31.225, UK-NVC H8 & H10). Cost-benefit analyses of these restoration techniques will also be performed.

A recent Forestry Commission report has indicated that there are some 6,000 hectares of damaged/derelict former industrial land in Wales (‘The Way Ahead for Welsh Forestry’, Forestry Commission). A UK Dept of the Environment report has also stated recently that there are 1900 hectares of current or ceased slate workings in the UK (‘Slate Waste Tips and Workings in Britain’, DOE, UK; Table 1). Planning permission has been granted for another 500 ha in the UK. Waste tips are found in Cornwall, Cumbria and the Highlands of Scotland but predominantly in North and Mid Wales. There are also extensive slate workings in France, Spain and Germany and general non-toxic mineral extraction sites in all EU countries. The total amount of slate waste in the UK alone has been estimated at 500 million tonnes with 6 million tonnes added each year. This is because, despite modern extraction and production techniques, 98% of quarried material is waste (usually tipped) and only 2% is saleable product.

Post-industrial land is an inevitable consequence of the extractive industry. Wales was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution during the last century and it has many areas of derelict land dating from these activities. Currently active industries, particularly the extractive industries also create waste land, some of which, due to its location or topography, is unlikely to be used for other commercial, residential or productive activities and can therefore be restored. The restoration standards expected of mineral operators are increasing and there is an ever growing demand for technology development and guidance which will achieve these ends in the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable manner. In the UK, the slate workings are predominantly in areas of extremely high landscape quality and in many areas quarrying has transformed the original landscape beyond recognition (e.g. Penrhyn Quarry).

Table 1. Summary of slate workings within the UK (source DOE, 1995)

Slate waste tips have been referred to as ‘temperate deserts’ because of their inability to support natural ‘unaided’ revegetation (DOE, 1995). Slate waste tips are generally much more resistant to natural colonization by vegetation than are most other forms of mineral extraction waste (e.g. coal spoils). This is due to the coarse particle size and extremely free drainage of slate waste, its resistance to weathering and the lack of plant nutrients. In addition, many sites are elevated and exposed, further limiting the rate of colonization. The slate waste is not contaminated by toxic chemicals and the environmental problems addressed by this project are more concerned with the physical rather than toxic problems of the substrate. On the positive side, abandoned slate workings provide breeding and roosting sites for birds, bats and other mammals and, with careful management, they can greatly enhance the biodiversity of an area. The majority of current slate-producing sites in Britain are still extracting and surface tipping on land with little or no planning for restoration while approximately 10% of the areas are abandoned (Table 1). These disused slate waste tips also present environmental hazards in that they frequently include unguarded quarry faces, deteriorating structures and unstable tip retaining walls.

Many slate workings are located within or next to National Parks, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The visual impact of these workings can be significant despite the relatively small areas involved. Perceptions of slate workings and especially the waste tips range from an unacceptable disfigurement of otherwise beautiful landscapes with high touristic value, to an essential component of the cultural heritage of communities which only exist because of the slate industry. The restoration of slate workings will therefore require maintaining a balanced approach to these perceptions, seeking to reduce the negative impacts of workings without reducing their historical interest. Another important social factor is the apparent expectations of the general public in restoration schemes of this nature. Specifically, this refers to their apparent desire for an ‘instant landscape’ and for ‘rapid greening’ to take place. This rapid greening, however, is frequently followed by rapid deterioration and restoration failure (see below for more details).

The project will initially be of a demonstrative nature with six restoration blocks with a total area of 9,600 m² containing at least 20,000 plants established in the upland zone (mainly heathers) and 5,000 in the lowland zone (mainly trees) in Wales alone. The size of the restoration areas in Spain and Ireland will each cover 2500 m². By the end of the project we aim to have demonstrated novel protocols which allow for the accelerated regeneration of desertificated, post-industrial land which contains a coarse, non-toxic substrate.

The following data will be collected to verify that the project objectives have been met. GIS will be used to collate this data as appropriate:-

We hope that the local community will play a key role in the project through the Web site, school visits, Open Days at the site and dissemination meetings/literature. This will be an important aspect of the socio-economic work and evaluation at the end of the project.

It is expected that within the three-year lifespan of the project successful demonstration plots will be established at the Penrhyn Quarry, Villar del Rey and Dan Morrissey sites. The first six to twelve months will be involved in the setting-up of the project, participatory socio-economic and landscape appraisal, environmental survey and assessment, selection of planting material and establishment of demonstration plots. The remaining 24-30 months will be used to monitor results on the establishment success of plants under each of the different conditions. The first 12 months will be based primarily at Penrhyn Quarry after which, demonstration plots will be set up at the European partner sites.

It is not envisaged that full semi-natural environments be recreated during the three-year project phase, but that the plots will start to show signs of accelerated plant natural regeneration and vegetation succession. After after three years we will be able to report on the relative survival and growth of plants that have established under different conditions. We will also undertake harvesting of a sample of the trial plants near the end of the project to examine their below-ground development. Recent research has shown that plants that have established a greater below-ground biomass (with deeper root penetration, rather than a superficial root system) will have better prospects for long-term success than those that have allocated all their biomass to above-ground growth. In addition, a refocusing of the biodiversity task (6) towards functional aspects of below-ground diversity will also increase our capacity to make useful early predictions of longer-term success. Recent research has also shown that establishment of below-ground biodiversity will be a good predictor of the rate of establishment of other, more visible, above-ground vertebrate and plant biodiversity. Thus, from this 36-month study the value of innovative planting medium compositions, quantity and location and the way in which it needs to be varied in different environmental conditions will be demonstrated at North Welsh, Spanish and Irish sites.

The key to the project’s factual recommendations about longer-term plant establishment success on slate waste-tip sites will come from monitoring of sites that have restored on a trial basis over the past twenty years using a variety of methods. Professor John Good (an external contractor to the project) is a key expert in this past work and has already recommended sites at Cwm Penmachno. The key wider set of sites, e.g. at Corris Uchaf, are reviewed in DoE (1995) and they will be revisited and assessed by the LIFE project staff.

From our comparison of the success of tree/vegetation establishment in contrasting slate tip environments we will be able to make firm recommendations about the way in which future slate waste should be tipped/engineered to create an environment most amenable to restoration. During the three years, generic protocols for all stages of the restoration process including environmental assessment, selection of local and tolerant species and genotypes of planting material, site preparation and management, and monitoring will be developed and written up as a "best practice" manual in response to the need expressed by Gwynedd Council who are committed to disseminate these recommendations to all relevant planning bodies in the UK. This report will also be disseminated to all participating partners and will be published on the Internet.

A summary of the expected results is given below:

Due to the cost of transport and the sheer volume of slate waste (500 million tonnes in the UK), its use as a ‘secondary’ mineral has been constrained. At present, the removal of slate waste is insignificant in relation to the volume being generated or the size of the existing waste tips and it is unlikely that this situation will alter in the near future. The most practical solution to this problem (and that of other non-toxic mineral workings) therefore relies on the reclamation and restoration of the site with the ultimate aim of recreating a natural landscape with high biodiversity and amenity value. The history of many slate extraction sites shows that it is unrealistic to expect the rapid natural (unaided) development of high biodiversity vegetation. Indeed, this is evidenced by the very minimal unaided regeneration which has occurred at many of the sites over the last 150 years. The main study area at Penrhyn Quarry still remains a ‘temperate desert’ with very little natural regeneration. The aim of this project is to demonstrate a method to accelerate natural regeneration and secondary successional processes such that a sustainable semi-natural vegetation of high biodiversity, conservation and amenity value can be achieved within a cost effective framework and achievable life span. The two types of habitats which we wish to recreate are Dry Heath and Mixed Deciduous Woodland. The techniques employed to achieve this will include; the use of genetic material of local provenance, cell planting strategies and substrate ameliorative techniques including the use of synthetic water retaining polyacrylamide gel polymers and other organic additives such as paper processing waste, singly and in combination.

Previous attempts at restoring slate quarries have largely been unsuccessful in either achieving or maintaining a landscape of high biodiversity value (DOE, 1995). In addition, past attempts to recreate habitats akin to the surrounding environment have been even more limited as highlighted by the 1995 DOE report which states ‘….there has been a lack of concern generally for the conservation of features which today would be regarded as valuable’. The reason for these failures mainly relates to the use of inappropriate plant genetic material, an inadequate knowledge of the constraints imposed by the planting substrate and a lack of awareness of the environmental constraints. In addition, these schemes are frequently extremely expensive costing on average about £65,000 ha^-1 to restore (based on these figures, the total cost of restoring all slate waste tips in the UK alone would be £120 million [169 million ECU]). Practical, more cost-effective schemes are therefore required to restore slate waste.

The main innovative features referred to above include:

Integration of detailed assessment of physical environment, landscape, heritage and local socio-economic factors in site mapping and stratification through GIS to plan the distribution of targeted restoration methods;

The demonstration of innovative applications of substrate amelioration techniques to protect from drought and store nutrients, including the use of polyacrylamide gel technology, at North Welsh, Spanish and Irish sites;

The selection and use of plant material meeting conservation objectives of local provenance and restoration requirements of tolerance of adverse site conditions;

Utilization and acceleration of natural primary succession processes and species’ capacity for natural regeneration to maximize the efficiency of restoration of semi-natural vegetation;

Use of "cell" planting strategies;

Detailed monitoring of restoration success;

The development of new and successful restoration strategies for determining restoration policy;

The partnership of a multidisciplinary team of experts, socio-economists, environmental planners and industrial companies working with the participation of the local community to answer a fundamental environmental problem.

Presently, a minimum level of remedial and restoration work is being carried out on site by the industrial partners. In general, UK planning conditions impose a minimal standard of residual management on current industrial activities but many industrial sites also carry an inherited problem from earlier or even historic industrial periods. The essence of this project is to bridge the gap between this minimum standard of environmental attainment and the targets to which 'best practice' might aspire using EU environmental directives, EMAS, Agenda 21, and the principles of sustainable development. Some of these concepts can be implemented using EU CORINE habitat classification and its UK equivalent, the National Vegetation Classification (NVC), as a specification guide to habitat character. For instance, at Penrhyn there is planning control over the area treated and the number of plants to be planted, but there are no demands to monitor the success rate.

The combination of the parties involved in this project (IES, MAS, Pizarras - Villar del Rey, Dan Morrissey Ltd and SEC) will offer a unique multidisciplinary solution to a fundamental land reclamation problem. This will ensure project success and maximize the potential for development of innovative solutions of wide impact. For the major full-time work on the project, we have carried out a careful and wide search for appropriate staff to fill two Senior Project Officer posts. This search has been highly successful and as a result we have been able to appoint two excellent individuals to work full time on the project over the next three years. These are Dr Julie Williamson (with long experience as a project implementation manager, mine site restoration specialism and soil microbial ecology) and Dr Edwin Rowe (with strong expertise in the ecology of plant rooting and nitrogen cycling, plant biodiversity, biological computation and ecological modelling). The short-listing has been completed for the post of project technician.

As we have attracted a candidate of such direct experience in the field, to make the best use of this, major decisions concerning the detailed planning of the project will now take place after she takes up the post on 1 December 1999 (together with SEC).

Altogether, the team has great expertise in all the required areas of the project including:

project management

post-industrial land restoration practice

ecology and biodiversity

socio-economic and landscape assessment

environmental survey, mapping and analysis

dissemination of outputs

field test design and analysis

arboriculture

plant selection and propagation

environmental and plant monitoring

analytical and laboratory methods

With any site reclamation programme a number of factors can come into play to threaten the success of the project. Adverse weather conditions such as exceptionally strong winds and prolonged drought can pose a problem for the successful establishment of vegetation in a given area. However, this may be overcome in part with substrate amelioration techniques, e.g the use of polyacrylamide gels. In addition, the timing of the planting will be phased to minimize plant losses by this means. Other problems which may be encountered during the project may be caused by vandalism (including fire); the participatory nature of this project with local community, and the daily presence of MAS staff in this active industrial site, should minimize this risk. If uncontrolled, sheep and rabbit herbivory can cause high mortality of tree and heather seedlings, therefore fencing and individual tree protection will need to be carefully monitored

The complexity of the site environment and its interaction with the different combinations of restoration methods may well make it difficult to make simple recommendations of universally applicable ‘best practice’. However, this reality (and thus the past failure of such prescribed methods) is a major justification for the systematic approach advocated by this project and the use of demonstration sites in North Wales, Spain and Ireland. The project team have the experience and expertise to manage, analyze and interpret the resulting multivariate results of the monitoring of the demonstration plots.

While it is known that some of the species selected for planting will establish fast enough to produce significant results within three years, it may take longer for the restoration success of others to be judged. Therefore, it is important that the project collaborators have already agreed to maintain the plots and monitor them for at least 10 years after the completion of the programme.

In addition to the knowledge of all the partners in evaluating their own tasks, Professor Gareth Edwards Jones has a particular expertise in this area and he will play a key role in this Task.

The large scale restoration of quarry and post-industrial land in the absence of top soil has previously been undertaken with great difficulty and limited success. Previously undertaken restoration projects of this nature have focused on the use of commercial plant material, peat (whose extraction has adverse environmental impact) and high levels of fertilizers. This has resulted in low biodiversity habitats which are inappropriate for many rural European wide-area post-industrial sites, including Penrhyn Quarry. This project would enable the 9.6 km² of post-industrial land at Penrhyn Quarry to be restored as a major European example of a site of high biodiversity and amenity value within the next 30 years. This will directly benefit both the adjoining National Park and the local community. The economic costs of the method will be low with little maintenance required after the initial phase. The methods have been selected both to be low cost and to maximize the ecological resilience of the rested vegetation (thus minimizing costs of subsequent maintenance). Monitoring of environmental impact is an integral feature of the project. An additional benefit arises from the studies at the Spanish and Irish sites which will demonstrate the broad applicability of the restoration methods and these sites will serve as important permanent national examples of successful biodiversity restoration. The Spanish site is interesting because this site contains a similar substrate material to Penrhyn Quarry but enjoys very different climatic conditions. By comparison, though the Irish site contains a different, coarse, non-toxic substrate, the climatic conditions are similar to Penrhyn.

There is a long standing interest in and experience of derelict land reclamation in Europe and there have been many successful examples in Wales. However, there are a number of technical problems remaining and there are many sites which have not been successfully restored. Current practice has generally had a poor success rate because standard approaches are applied across the full extent of sites irrespective of variation in their environmental conditions. Cost-effectiveness is often poor because expensive site preparation and treatment is often applied where it is not needed for successful restoration. There is a great deal of renewed interest, driven by sustainability and biodiversity concerns embodied in Community legislation and Agenda 21, in developing more cost-effective techniques for large scale site restoration. This project will provide some of the solutions to these concerns and reduce longer term costs for further developments. During the lifetime of the programme all the methods used will be critically evaluated and their suitability, viability, cost-effectiveness and transferability to other sites assessed. The following will be determined:

The methods developed and applied on this site will be of relevance to many other post-industrial landscapes throughout Europe (e.g. Spain, Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the UK), especially post-industrial surfaces of coarse grained non-toxic materials and water limited environments. In addition, these technologies can be applied to any urban/civil engineering landscape where importation of topsoil is currently carried out for vegetation restoration (e.g. road schemes). Topsoil importation is environmentally unsound (e.g. transport costs and environmental impact) and technologies such as those proposed here may well offer a more cost-effective, ecologically resilient and environmentally benign alternative. The subsequent development of these sites by natural processes to sustainable semi-natural habitats of high biodiversity, conservation, landscape and amenity value will represent a major advance in environmental quality. The restoration of habitat types considered of significance at the Community level on post-industrial land will add a new dimension to land management and the planning of conservation, landscape and industrial heritage.

The demonstration of environmental/landscape assessment, environmental, vegetation and socio-economic monitoring, and analysis will reveal the most cost-effective and successful generic approaches, and individual techniques for restoration in post-industrial sites of this type at three sites with [i] varying climatic conditions (North Wales and Spain) and [ii] varying substrates (North Wales and Ireland). We believe that these approaches and techniques have the potential to be reproduced easily on new sites across the Community. Indeed, there is 6,000Ha of derelict post-industrial land in Wales alone to which the findings of this project could be applied (The Way Ahead for Welsh Forestry, Forestry Commission Report). The various media chosen for the dissemination of the results will provide an initial source of information for potential users. Indeed, the main priority in the dissemination activities of this programme is to extend this technology across a broad range of sites within the EU. Further, if successful these technologies will be applied after three years by MAS to their other quarry sites in Wales.

Many hundred post-industrial sites consisting of coarse grained non-toxic material exist throughout Europe. All of these will offer potential for the application of these techniques. Given the desire to maintain biological diversity and support for Agenda 21, the ability to convert formerly industrial land to habitats of high biological diversity and landscape and heritage value is of importance. In addition, as mentioned above these techniques have considerable potential to increase the success and reduce the costs (by removing the necessity of top-soil importation) of other forms of urban/civil engineering landscaping (wherever water and nutrients are limiting factors to plant establishment).

The Institute of Environmental Science (IES) was established in 1995 and is located at the University of Wales, Bangor which has an annual turnover in excess of £64 million a year (90 million ECU). IES unifies the expertise in environmental issues in the area. It has the highest concentration of environmental experts and one of the most comprehensive environmental units in any one European location, thus achieving its international reputation. One of the key goals of IES is technology transfer to the local community and so it is involved in environmentally based projects in collaboration with a number of local. IES offers expertise in site survey, plant ecology, environmental monitoring, water resource management, soil science, land restoration, polymer technology, chemical analysis, environmental interpretation and economics, participatory environmental assessment and management. IES staff are also experienced in the management of large scale projects of an environmental nature. IES will provide the expert knowledge and be responsible for the overall coordination of the programme and the financial management of the tasks. IES also houses the state-of-the-art analytical facilities required for this project. The IES personnel involved in this project and their relevant expertise are:

Prof. Mark Baird Project general manager

Prof. John Farrar Scientific management

Dr Julie Williamson Project implementation manager, site restoration, soil microbial ecology

Dr John Healey Forest regeneration and ecological monitoring

Dr Davey Jones Environmental monitoring, applied plant ecology & plant soil interactions

Dr Peter Holliman Development of substrate ammendment techniques, including the use of polyacrylamide gels and other organic additives

Dr Edwin Rowe Ecology of plant rooting and nitrogen cycling, plant biodiversity, biological computation, ecological modelling

Prof. G. Edwards-Jones Biodiversity, environmental economics and conservation management

Dr Jeremy Williams Geographical information systems and upland ecology

Dr Cledwyn Hughes Socio-economic impact assessment

To be appointed Tree establishment and protection, arboriculture (to replace Dr Graham Mayhead who has retired)

Technician Appointment to be made from short-listed candidates

In addition, IES also aims to employ one external contract person (namely Prof. John Good from the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology-Bangor) who has an international reputation for his work in the reclamation of coal waste, biodiversity evaluation and restoration of upland sites.

Since 1966, McAlpine Slate Ltd (MAS) has owned the Penrhyn slate quarry which employs over 200 people and is the largest of its kind in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The quarry was established over 200 years ago and has a accumulated a very extensive area of slate waste over this time. The site is environmentally important because it is adjacent to two important SSSIs and a national nature reserve containing the most important UK populations of a number of rare arctic-alpine plants. The lower altitude parts of the site are also important because they are dominated by several woodland types rare in Europe (e.g. Sessile Oak - Downy Birch - Dicranium Moss Woodland (W17)).

MAS is committed to the sustainable restoration of the site and has budgeted ca. £3M over the next 25 years for this purpose. The key interest for the Company in this project is the demonstration of an accelerated and cost effective regeneration method which can be applied to the remaining slate tips at Penrhyn Quarry as well as its newly acquired Blaenau Ffestiniog quarry. MAS also part owns the Slate Ecology Company which is responsible for the environmental management of both sites. The McAlpine Slate staff directly involved in this project are:

Chris Law Managing Director of McAlpine Slate Ltd

Marcus Bischoff Quarry Manager

Geraint Roberts Operations Manager

The Slate Ecology Company Ltd (SEC) was formed in 1996 and is partly owned by MAS In 1993, MAS examined the ecological implications of a proposed extension to Penrhyn Quarry. This report formed part of an environmental impact statement accompanying MAS’s planning application for an extension to the working area of the quarry. The SEC is involved in the implementation of the ecological proposals that accompanied the extension of the quarry mainly with respect to the restoration of the waste slate tips that had accumulated during the previous 150 years. SEC has an extensive expertise in the following areas: landscape design, preparation of environmental impact assessments and statements, ground restoration schemes and the evaluation of local, national and international policies. They are involved in the restoration of highway and development sites, sand and gravel extraction quarries, crushed rock quarries and slate quarries. The key members of SEC involved in this project are:

Tom Pritchard Managing Director and Ecological Restoration Specialist

Peter Marston Finance Director, Planning and Coordination Expert, LA Liaison

Terry Rendell Acting Manager and Company Landscape Ecologist

Villar del Rey Slate Quarries Ltd was formed in the 1980’s and currently has a turnover of 600 million pts p.a. (4.2 million ECU). It currently employs 110 people but will expand to 150 employees in the near future on completion of a new factory complex. A geological study of the Badajoz site has indicated slate deposits of 3 million m³. Present quarrying extracts 1 million tonnes of material each year with 97% of material being tipped. The Company is already committed to a restoration programme which would benefit greatly from the sustainable, cost effective method to be demonstrated in this programme. The key members of V. del Rey involved with this project are:

Julian Reynolds Managing Director of Pizarras, Villar del Rey

Inmaculada Pascua Company Project Contact and Geologist

Dan Morrissey Ltd is the largest independent producer of aggregate material in Ireland with 180 employees and a turnover of 30 million ECU. The Company has three quarries covering a combined area of approximately 300 ha and a combined tip size of more than 1 million tonnes. The three sites are limestone and sandstone quarries in Carlow and a whinstone quarry in Wicklow which will form the demonstration site for this project. The company is already committed to the remediation of these tips which, though not made up of slate, do consist of a coarse, non toxic substrate. The Company will benefit from the programme with site specific advice regarding demonstration plots which will demonstrate the best method to restore the remainder of the quarry sites along with the 7 gravel pits owned by Dan Morrissey Ltd which also require restoration. The Morrissey’s staff involved in the programme will be:

Other Associated Partners

Gwynedd Council are the local authority responsible for the area which includes Penrhyn Quarry and many smaller disused slate quarries. GC also act as the minerals planning authority for the area. They will therefore be in a position to offer restoration advice to all quarries in the area through the "best practice" manual produced at the end of the programme. Indeed, the authority is currently involved in the Slate Valleys Initiative which is seeking to reduce the socio-economic impact of the decline of the industry and they see this programme as complementing this initiative. GC are also committed to enhancing and improving the environment while maintaining and promoting tourism and industry within the area. They have long standing expertise in environmental management, community interactions, promotion of tourism and leisure and dissemination of resources to other local authorities. The GC staff members involved in this project are:

Gwynedd Thomas Assistant Director, Planning and Economic Development Department

Jeremy Gibbins Minerals and Waste Officer

5.M.1 Objective The efficient management and co-ordination of partners to ensure task completion remains on schedule and within planning prescriptions. In addition, rigorous feedback and monitoring will be maintained throughout the project.

Task Co-ordinators: Professor Mark Baird, Prof. John Farrar, Dr Julie Williamson, IES

Implementation of a communication and financial flow structure to manage fund allocation together with feedback co-ordination and collation of current position with regard to programme and task completion. This will be performed in advance of six-monthly meetings and end of programme reporting. IES’s role includes consultation with the Task Co-ordinators, experts, quarry staff, field operatives and technicians.

Tasks completed to deadline and overall objectives achieved, as demonstrated in dissemination material.

Proposed start date: October, 1999 Estimated duration: 36 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports. (See GANTT chart):

5.M.5 Finances- Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 4

5.D.1 Objective Promote findings at a local, national and international level.

Task Co-ordinator: Professor Mark Baird, IES

Associated experts: Dr Davey Jones, Dr Julie Williamson & Dr Edwin Rowe, IES

All partners.

The production of six-monthly reports will facilitate improved co-ordination and communication with local community and interested bodies. At the end of the project, a "best practice" manual entitled "The sustainable restoration and recreation of high biodiversity habitats on post-industrial derelict land" will be produced, together with a WWW report. The manual will be circulated to, and seminars held at, all of the participating partners for future planning and training purposes. In addition, Gwynedd Council have expressed a keen interest in helping to promote this manual to the owners of similar sites in the area as well as through its contacts at other UK local authorities and abroad. To facilitate these promotional tasks, hard copies of the manual will be freely distributed within the EU and available for a minimal cost to non-EU countries. In addition, local and national television and newspapers will be used to promote the work. We also aim to have at least two ‘open days’ allowing the general public and local bodies to see the on-site work at first hand. We also intend to make available a video demonstrating the restoration techniques employed at the site and video recording the vegetational succession over the three-year period.

The successful dissemination of the outputs of a project such as this are key to the overall success of the work and will involve close coordination between all the parties involved. For these reasons, the key dissemination routes and endpoints are shown in Figure 6. It is proposed that a feedback mechanism be put in place whereby six-monthly meetings of all the partners will provide feedback on the progress of the project throughout its lifetime. Records of these developments (survey, stratification, site preparation, planting, subsequent management, monitoring and analyzed results) will be maintained in paper, electronic and visual formats for progress publications. GIS will be used as a tool to represent the progress of restoration across the spatial gradients in the quarry landscape. All records will have public access. In this project dissemination is viewed as an interactive process: feedback will be solicited from all those receiving dissemination outputs, and will be incorporated into the project’s subsequent work.

The success of the project and EU adoption of the demonstrated technology will depends upon effective dissemination pathways (Figure 2, Table 2). The results of the project will therefore be disseminated in as many effective ways as possible. This will include the production of six-monthly reports to facilitate improved co-ordination and communication with the local community and other stakeholder/interested organisations. The biological and landscape value designated to the surrounding area (such as National Park status) is of great significance for the dissemination potential of this project. Several public footpaths widely used by the local community and visitors run through the site. Interpretation points or ‘cells’ will be established at key points along these paths to disseminate the project’s work and explain the demonstration plots visible to the viewer. Visual display and leaflet outputs on the project’s work will also be placed in the high density of National Park and other tourist information offices that exist throughout the Snowdonia region. The availability of the demonstration plots for educational visits will be communicated to schools throughout the region and higher education institution nationally (many of these institutions already visit Snowdonia for field trips). We plan to initiate specific collaborate with local schools in slate valley areas (e.g. Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen and Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle) to enable pupils to make visits to the site and use the LIFE restoration programme in their project work. It is also proposed to have a number of demonstration plot public ‘open-days’.

Wider dissemination throughout the Community, including audiences who do not read English, will be achieved by means of the world wide web (WWW), including live web camera images showing progress. The Bangor/Caernarfon area is a major focus for television production companies who market their outputs throughout Europe, and the IES’s existing strong links with them will be exploited to promote the production of television programmes about the project.

Within the project’s broad dissemination strategy we are exploring the possibility of arranging a field-trip to the site for delegates to the Society for Ecological Restoration 2000 International Conference being held in Liverpool, 4-7 September 2000. Dissemination of the results of the project’s outputs to other practitioners will be a key factor in achieving its objectives. One of the most effective mechanisms of this is presentation of authoritative articles in the key publications read by the professionals working in this field. Land restoration practice has been heavily influenced by applied scientific research (e.g. that conducted by the University of Liverpool on slate-waste restoration). Therefore, effective dissemination of this LIFE project must encompass publication in the journals read by applied scientists in this field (such as the members of the Society for Ecological Restoration) as well as those read more widely by practitioners (such as ENDS Report). IES has a long and distinguished record of successfully combining the production of dissemination outputs from applied ecology projects targeted at a wide range of different audiences (e.g. from farmer field schools and extension leaflets through to research papers) in our extensive project work for the UK Department for International Development.

The end of the project will also coincide with the production of a "best practice" manual entitled "The restoration of post-industrial land and re-creation of natural habitats and landscape" as described earlier. This will be distributed to, and training seminars held with, all partners. The manual will be available in paper form and distributed to professional civil engineering bodies, local authority planners, landscape/conservation agencies, wildlife trusts, National Parks and county libraries in all three partner states. The report will also be reproduced on the project’s WWW pages so that it is available to an international audience. IES staff have demonstrated the use of such media for information dispersal and they are now being used for the LIFE project (e.g. www.safs.bangor.ac.uk/dj). This report will also be submitted to Gwynedd Council who are strongly committed to integrating the results in their future policies. In addition, a video to demonstrate the vegetation progression to the final habitat types will be produced documenting the change from derelict land to a semi-natural vegetated site over the course of the project and its availability publicised through the project’s other dissemination media.

There exists within Wales a great deal of interest in the restoration of derelict land given the long history of similar extractive/industrial activity. Dissemination of the project results to stakeholders/interested parties (e.g. local authorities, conservation organisations, commercial organisations (industrial and consultants) etc.) will be integral to public and professional interest in the project and the extension of its results to other site rehabilitation projects at local, national and Community level. The project’s role will be both to inspire the initiation of new restoration schemes and to provide information on how restoration can be carried out cost-effectively and successfully. This will result in a measurable improvement in sustainable biodiversity, landscape and amenity value for the benefit of all. The existing unpublished Welsh Office Derelict Land Survey in Wales and the Derelict Land Database will be used to provide an effective means of estimating the extent of similar areas in Wales that would be amenable to similar restoration treatment.

Extensive contacts have already been made with other organisations working in this field with a view to developing collaborative links. E.g., in the commercial and NGO sector, Richards Moorehead and Laing Ltd., The Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, The Construction Industry Research and Information Assocation, The National Urban Forestry Unit, the Forestry Commission, the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, the Countryside Council for Wales, Wardell Armstrong Environmental Ltd, SGS Forestry, the Forest Stewardship Council, Fountain Renewable Resources Ltd. In the University sector, Brandenburg Technical University, Cottbus, Germany; Gottingen University, Germany; Freiburg University, Germany, University of Firenze, Italy, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, University of Illinois, USA, Universities of Manchester, Liverpool, Derby, Cranfield, Ulster, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Durham, Leeds, York, Sheffield, Cambridge, Oxford, Reading and London, UK. We will also continue to explore collaboration with the North Wales Wildlife Trust, LIFE 99 ENV/UK/00200 project but have already agreed to communicate and discuss results.

"Open Days" to publicise work to the general public and to other practitioners.

Completion of hard copy and Internet version of "best practice" manual.

Dissemination of "best practice" manual to all partners and to Gwynedd Council.

Production of video recording vegetational succession at the sites.

Proposed start date: October, 1999 Estimated duration: 36 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports. (See GANTT chart):

5.D.5 Finances

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 5

To complete site landscaping and to survey, map and delineate the demonstration plots.

Task Co-ordinators: Dr Jeremy Williams, IES - GIS work

Mr Terry Rendell, SEC - landscaping

Associated experts: Dr Edwin Rowe & Dr Julie Williamson, IES

In order to be able to quantify the impact of the planting regimes and substrate amendment technology, reproducible demonstration plots are required.

The key topographic, substrate and microclimatic environmental variables across the area will be surveyed and then assessed and mapped, together with the socio-economic/landscape/heritage information, using geographical information systems (GIS) to classify the area into environmental/landscape zones. These data will be then be used to delineate the demonstration plots.

An accurate site assessment is critical to the success and future extension of this restoration project. Slate workings have many factors, positive and negative, which should be considered during the selection of sites for rehabilitation schemes. Factors that this encompasses can be divided into: (a) "natural environment", e.g. altitude, aspect, exposure; (b) "substrate management", variation in the substrate created by its past management – slope angle, particle-size class composition (with depth – including compaction etc.). They include:

stability of tips/quarries

substrate quality

vegetation regeneration

site accessibility

drainage

wildlife value

landscape assessment

geological interest

recreation potential

archaeological interest

grazing-pressure

working activity

environmental impact

At present, it is known that the site at Penrhyn Quarry spans a wide altitudinal range from 150-400 m and contains a number of substrate types including, coarse slate waste, fine slate waste and glacial waste removed from the surface upon the commencement of quarrying. However, this environmental diversity has not been adequately mapped or assessed in order to determine the relative importance of different limiting factors to plant establishment across the landscape. Considerable time-saving will be achieved by building on the GIS for the Penrhyn Quarry site that has already been commissioned by MAS. This will deal well with gross topographic (e.g. altitude, aspect) and associated climatic (e.g. wind exposure, potential evapotranspiration) variables. However, additional field-work will be required (including accessing sources of information on the history of the quarry and its tips, and the knowledge of key informants about the structure and composition of individual tips, as well as site survey) in order to develop a layer in the GIS of substrate conditions. A more limited field sampling will be undertaken to verify and calibrate the existing GIS model. In this we will survey key topographic, substrate and microclimatic environmental variables in sample locations across the area and map them, together with the historical/individual substrate knowledge information. The GIS will then be used to classify the area into environmental zones (Good et al, 1997, Countryside Council for Wales project report; Armenteras & Williams, in press, J. Appl. Ecol.). The microclimatic data will be obtained through the use of portable data logging weather stations located within the six demonstration plots at the Penrhyn Quarry site (see later for a description of the demonstration sites). The classified zones will form the basis of a management plan for each site. Each zone will define the type of semi-natural vegetation to be restored and the environmental factors currently limiting plant establishment (e.g. water or nutrient availability, substrate stability or compaction, depth to permanent rooting depth, summer temperature, frost, herbivory, weed competition). The methods used for restoration will, as a result, be zone specific.

In deciding on the site variables to use for the stratification into zones, there are two forms of analysis that must be applied: (a) scientific assessment of which of the variables are going to be of greatest importance in determining the relative success of alternative restoration methods; (b) geographical assessment of the relative area/importance of each site type (defined as a given combination of site variables). In the latter case, there are two levels of analysis that must be applied: (i) within Penrhyn Quarry – the relative proportion of the area that is to be restored that falls into each site type; (ii) the wider perspective, the project is designed to demonstrate techniques of much wider applicability than just in Penrhyn Quarry (including, but not only, elsewhere in Wales, in Ireland and in Spain). For this it is necessary to assess the relative importance of different site variables in post-industrial land throughout Europe. This analysis might well indicate, for instance, that water shortage is the absolutely key variable (especially with respect to southern Europe). In this case, even if extremely well-drained, highly-exposed, south-facing slopes occupy a very small proportion of the Penrhyn Quarry environment, the project may still need to ensure that it incorporates such locations in its network of demonstration plots.

The environmental zones produced by the assessment and mapping of the Penrhyn Quarry site will be used as the basis for the exact location of the demonstration plots. A temporary allocation of the demonstration plots has been indicated in Figure 3. A cell or patch planting approach will be used within each demonstration plot with unplanted areas between these planted sub-plots or "cells".

The effectiveness of each restoration method will be demonstrated in sub-plots containing a number of stratum types (i.e. fine to coarse material). Selection of the restoration techniques will be based on previously undertaken laboratory and glasshouse based research. We know from these small scale, ‘ideal conditions’ trials that the techniques should be superior to existing restoration techniques although they have yet to be demonstrated in large, field scale trials. The goal of these demonstration plots will be to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these innovative reclamation approaches.

As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the Penrhyn Quarry site can be arbitrarily classified into two main ecological zones namely an ‘upland’ and ‘lowland’ zone. Although each zone contains a number of habitats, the vegetation at the boundary of the upland zone is dominated by ‘Dry Acid Dwarf Shrub Heath’, while in the lowland zone it is dominated by ‘Semi-Natural Broad-leaved Woodland’ (Figure 4). It is these two vegetation types that this proposal will restore as these have a known high conservation value. British sessile oak woodland in this type of site (NVC W17) are of European conservation importance, especially for their communities of lower plants: ferns, mosses, liverworts and especially epiphytic lichens and fungi. This is also in direct contrast with most previous restoration schemes which have planted ‘acid’ or ‘neutral grassland’ which possesses a low conservation/biodiversity value. In terms of CORINE classification, the Upland British heaths (31.212 and 31.225) have been classified by the Habitats Directive as habitats of European importance. This is due to their high conservation/biodiversity value and the continuing concern about the decline of heathland in the UK.

Table 3. Summary of the target vegetation in each restoration zone at Penrhyn Quarry.

Species selection (Table 3) will concentrate on early successional species (including Calluna, Betula, Sorbus and Salix) as these have the maximum potential to facilitate the natural colonization and establishment of other members of the vegetation community. Similar species to those at Penrhyn will be used in the ecologically similar wet-oceanic climate of the Irish site, while the species planted at the Spanish site will be selected from those dominating local natural vegetation : oak (Quercus ilex and Quercus suber) and early successional Cistus (Cistus ladanifer and Cistus salvifolius). Different forms of planting site preparation will be assessed including:

Slope stabilization (from earlier studies, instability of slopes leading to disruption of plant root systems is known to be a major limiting factor to plant survival)

Manipulation of slate particle size class composition

Addition of different amounts, distribution and composition of planting media (Task 4).

In addition, different forms of plant protection and site management after planting will be used including fencing and individual tree shelters (Braithwaite & Mayhead, 1996, Arboricultural J., 16, 123-32; from earlier studies herbivory is known to be a major limiting factor on plant survival on such sites). All the treatments will be replicated and an appropriate set of control (untreated plots) will also be included for comparison.

Efficiency of design will be achieved by selecting sites where nested sub-plots can be established of each of the major strata versus treatment combinations. It is envisaged that a total of six blocks of demonstration plots will be established, each containing a restored area of 1600 m² and at least five independently treated sub-plots. Three blocks will be located in the ‘upland zone’ and three blocks in the ‘lowland zone’. Thus the total area of demonstration plots will be at least 9,600 m², containing a combination of at least 20,000 planted heathers and 5,000 trees.

The landscaping of the site will be performed at no extra cost by MAS. The project necessarily involves some standard industrial and post-industrial operations including the transport, tipping and grading of overburden, waste rock, rubble etc., these processes are, of course, a necessary part of site management and may be referred to as a precondition of some of the tasks but they are not deemed to be part of the essence of the project, are not described in detail and are not part of the eligible expenditure. Where possible, their cost is dis-aggregated and separated from the cost of the ecological restoration.

Survey of environmental and landscape zones.

Landscaping of sites.

Proposed start date: December, 1999 Estimated duration: 4.5 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports. (See GANTT chart):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 8

To obtain and cultivate large amounts of genetically similar plant material of local provenance suitable for field experimentation.

Task Co-ordinator: Mr Terry Rendell, SEC

Associated experts: Dr John Healey & Dr Edwin Rowe, IES

Most restoration studies have used plant genetic material that is highly variable and which is not of local provenance. With this approach, the success of the treatments cannot be verified due to the inherent variability in plants. We therefore aim to develop the methods to establish 5,000 trees and 20,000 individual heather plants of local provenance suitable for field experimentation at the field site. The project will demonstrate the relative success of planting of nursery-grown plants, direct seeding, and the addition of heather-litter (and other methods of accelerating natural seed rain) for the establishment of these plants. Some nursery-grown plant material will be retained for the second year in case some plants have failed.

There is a growing awareness that land that has no other productive use should be used to maintain regional biodiversity and, where possible, planting programmes should try to recreate natural or semi-natural habitats using native species. The use of plant material of local genotype (provenance) is an extension of this concept that is attracting increasing attention and is particularly appropriate in areas of high biodiversity and amenity value. However, most land reclamation schemes have used plants which are cheap, easily available in large numbers and which are propagated from genetic material unrelated to the environment in which the plants will be grown. This often causes plants to fail (e.g. Mediterranean seed stock planted in North Wales). Previous slate restoration projects in which fast growing grass species have been planted (e.g. ryegrass) have achieved little success due to the lack of their suitability for this adverse environment. In contrast, studies on the natural recolonization of slate waste tips has showed that slower growing native species of grass are more able to withstand these stressed conditions, albeit with a lower productivity but more importantly without significant management inputs (Robinson Jones Partnership, 1987). By contrast, the method to be demonstrated here will greatly accelerate remediation. In addition, for a remote and adverse environment such as Penrhyn Quarry it is likely that the choice of plant material will be critical to the success of the project. Healey and Rendell have already attended a Forestry Commission seminar on "The use of local tree seed" when key information was obtained and contacts made with other practitioners in this field.

In the LIFE project the choice of species will be based on the following criteria:

compatibility with the surrounding natural vegetation community

potential to accelerate the establishment of other species

tolerance of climatic conditions

tolerance of substrate conditions

post-reclamation performance

minimal maintenance capacity

tolerance of grazing

impact on waste tip stability

biodiversity value

amenity value

restoration goal

Best practice forestry methods are now adopting 50 to 100 m ‘vertical provenance zones’; this ‘altitude provenance’ concept must be adopted for restoration projects in sites with a wide altitudinal range, such as Penrhyn Quarry. In addition, in post-industrial sites with such difficult substrate conditions (e.g. coal waste tips) considerable improvement in restoration success has been achieved through the selection of plant genotypes more tolerant of that environment (e.g. Good et al., 1985: J. Appl. Ecol., 22, 995-1008). These genotypes are often not the same as those present in local natural vegetation. Therefore, in this project an innovative approach will be required in the selection of plant material to combine successfully the management requirements of cost-effective site restoration and conservation requirements of the use of local genotypes. Large numbers of plant seedlings of different known local provenances are already in production by the Slate Ecology Company (SEC) and will form a good basis for the selection of planting material for this project. The SEC has a proven record in the production of local provenance material including Calluna vulgaris, the character species of dry heathlands, and rare species such as the EU listed species Tuberaria guttata. The plant species that are already known to be able to colonize the range of environments at the Penrhyn Quarry site are listed in Table 2, which is based on previous ecological surveys carried out at the quarry and the surrounding area by the project’s collaborators (Oxley et al. 1993, 1995).

Seed collection has already been completed.

Means of establishment of 5,000 trees and 20,000 heather plants of local provenance.

Proposed start date: October, 1999 Estimated duration: 12 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 10.5

Table 4: List of plant species found close to (but rarely in) Penrhyn Quarry

5.3.1 Objective: To assess the socio-economic impact of the Penrhyn Quarry restoration programme.

Task Co-ordinator: Prof. Gareth Edward Jones

Associated expert: Dr Jeremy Williams, IES - GIS

Dr Cledwyn Hughes, IES - socio-economic survey

Dr Edwin Rowe, IES - Welsh environment

Many local people feel that the Penrhyn Quarry site is part of their cultural and industrial heritage. Their views have already been elicited through a range of standard participatory rural appraisal techniques during the assessment work reported in the environmental statement accompanying the planning application for expansion of the quarry which resulted in the current phase of enviornmental restoration work. This evidence of local views on the future use of the post-industrial land on the site, restoration to semi-natural vegetation specifically, and the desired future landscape will be critically assessed to determine its utility as a baseline for the project. If appropriate the resulting spatial information will be incorporated into the overall restoration of the site through geographical information systems (GIS) analysis. If necessary additional social survey will be carried out to establish an adequate baseline for assessment of the impact of the project. Then a similar programme will follow up on some key respondents at the end of the LIFE programme.

Terry Rendell and colleagues in SEC have identified sheep grazing as a key constraint to successful restoration of the site. The costs of providing adequate protection have dominated concerns about the economic viability of the current restoration programme. At present discussion about solving this problem have concentrated on technical solutions. However, the project will not ignore the crucial socio-economic component of this. The number of local people who are stakeholders with respect to the sheep encroachment on the site are very few, and there is probably a willingness by all stakeholders for the project to initiate a more participatory approach to the solution of this problem than has occurred previously. This problem relates wider ones researched elsewhere into the interactions between protected areas and pastrolism; and decision making by pastoralists who do not have tenure on the land that their animals graze.

Particular attention will also be given to amenity and heritage aspects as part of the site development plan. The historical remains of slate workings are a source of great interest to industrial archaeologists, and are of growing interest to the general public (DOE, 1995). This will principally involve the design and development of footpaths and a series of focal points or ‘cells’. Focal points may include interpretation of heritage and community for both local and tourist use. Access through the existing footpath network is an important issue for the community and this project offers the opportunity to upgrade the footpaths to the standards proposed by the Countryside Council for Wales in their ‘Footpaths 2000’ initiative. The consultation process with the community also offers the opportunity to inform people of their heritage and its importance. This is clearly consistent with the objectives of 1994-1999 5B Leader initiatives for Wales.

Completed survey of socio-economic impact of restoration programme.

Incorporation of survey data into geographical information system (GIS).

Proposed start date: November, 1999 Estimated duration: 6 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 3.5

Development and implementation of methodology and design of demonstration plots.

Task Co-ordinators: Dr Davey Jones & Dr Julie Williamson, IES

Associated experts: Dr Edwin Rowe, Dr John Healey, Dr Peter Holliman &

Prof. Farrar, IES

Professor John Good, ITE

Mr Terry Rendell & Professor Tom Pritchard, SEC

The implementation of the correct methodology and design of demonstration plots is essential to the success of the project. In a three year project such as this there is no room for failure. This task will include the choice of methods used in any analytical procedures and the number of plants needed for statistical verification of the results. It will also include the purchase of some additional scientific monitoring equipment needed for the project (nutrient analysers, portable weather stations, polyacrylamide gels, fencing etc.) the demarcation, fencing and preparation of the demonstration plots and the purchase of computers for data handling.

The primary limitation to plant growth at Penrhyn Quarry and many other post-industrial sites is the lack of available water and nutrients. The slate substrate is inherently nutrient poor, weathers slowly and has little water holding capacity. In addition, excavation of the tips has revealed a predominance of boulder-sized material at the tip surface, while the finer grained material suitable for plant growth has migrated downwards due to the combined effects of water and gravity. Tips of apparently coarse waste material typically have fine-grained material within one metre of the surface.

Figure 3. Schematic diagram showing the pocket planting design which promotes transplant growth, water capture, soil formation and sustainability.

At present, pockets of peat are being used at Penrhyn Quarry to aid plant establishment. However, this existing technology is of limited applicability, there is controversy over the environmental consequences of peat use, and peat is limited in effectiveness as a water and nutrient retaining and supplying medium in the most drought prone sites (thus it is very doubtful how well this technology would extend to Spain). There is great potential to improve this technology by the utilization of new substances that would be more effective at conserving and maximizing resource availability. Polymeric gels which swell in the presence of water have great potential for this. Indeed, this technology has been used extensively and successfully in agricultural production in California (Seybold, 1994; Comm, Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 25, 2172-85). In the UK, however, whilst these polyacrylamide (PAM) gels have been used extensively in horticulture (e.g. hanging baskets), their potential use for land restoration has yet to be adequately demonstrated. These PAM gels can hold up to 5000 times their weight in water, are commercially available from at least five different manufacturers and are relatively inexpensive. Indeed, it can be expected that the price will fall further as demand increases.

In preliminary IES greenhouse trials, heathers growth on slate waste in the presence of PAM’s showed a five to ten-fold increase in plant production compared with untreated plants. We will use a number of formulations of these gels in order to maximize plant establishment. Nonetheless, PAMs have a number of potential disadvantages (e.g. poor mixing with other components of the planting medium and the risk of toxic acrylamides being produced on their deterioration). In current practice a number of other substrate amendments have been tested, e.g waste products from paper manufacture, sewage sludge waste, wood residues, animal manures, other organic materials. Healey, Jones and Rendell have already attended a Forestry Commission seminar on "Mineral workings and woodland" at which key information was obtained and contacts made with other projects in this field. There is clearly a need for careful assessment of the relative suitability of each of these materials in isolation and in different combinations for contrasting site conditions. This work has yet to be done for slate waste tips and similar environments, and so must be undertaken by the LIFE project. Decisions on the details of the design of this work will be taken after Dr Julie Williamson (who has considerable experience in this field) takes up her post in the project on 1 December 1999.

Recommendations about the use of these techniques at Penrhyn Quarry and their transferability to the significantly contrasting environments of the Spanish, Irish and other post industrial sites will then be made. This work also has the potential for major spin-offs in horticulture, urban/landscape engineering etc.

Purchase of equipment.

Complete construction of the demonstration plots.

Proposed start date: January, 2000 Estimated duration: 6 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 17

Implementation and validation of the environmental monitoring program

Task Co-ordinator: Dr John Healey & Dr Julie Williamson, IES

Associated experts: Dr Edwin Rowe & Dr Davey Jones, IES

Mr Terry Rendell and Professor Tom Pritchard, SEC

This task will demonstrate the validity of the methodology (equipment, weather stations, soil water samplers, computerised data handling) on existing replanted areas created by the Slate Ecology Company in 1996. This will confirm that the environmental monitoring methods operate successfully prior to full implementation on the trial plots.

Recently, there have been important advances in the environmental monitoring of forestry projects as a component of overall environmental management (see Platt & Healey, 1994, Environmental management for forestry projects: monitoring, Shell Forestry). However, there has been a general failure to incorporate these advances into the practice of post-industrial land restoration. The demonstration value of most land restoration projects is severely limited because their outcomes have not been properly monitored or assessed. We will develop and demonstrate generic protocols for monitoring in such restoration work, including: systematic design and documentation of an appropriate planting scheme for subsequent monitoring; baseline survey; selection of appropriate monitoring variables and frequency; analysis and assessment of monitored results; development of appropriate responses in the management of the monitored sites and alteration of the methods of subsequent restoration schemes. The variables monitored and assessed will include environmental condition; plant establishment success; and economic costs and benefits (including the perceptions of key stakeholders/local participants).

In addition, the role of this project in development and demonstration of improved methods will require detailed monitoring. With respect to social issues, we intend to monitor the number of individuals visiting the site and their affiliation (local people, tourists, school/HE students, professionals from Wales, UK and other EU countries). We will also monitor the take-up and implementation of our practices by professionals visiting from other sites. Plant establishment success will be assessed by the following key criteria: survival rate, growth rate and nutrient content. The rate of organic matter accumulation (i.e. ‘soil’ creation), establishment of new plants by natural regeneration and level of herbivory damage and weed competition will also be observed and monitored in each plot. Nutrient levels will be determined according to standard Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF, UK) protocols within the IES. In addition, the biodiversity of the area is a key endpoint of this study:

With respect to biodiversity monitoring, the re-establishment of native plants does not necessarily result in the re-establishment of biodiverse communities of invertebrates and vertebrates. Major reasons why native communities may not re-establish in the short term relates to the spatial configuration of the sites in relation to other habitat areas and also on the ‘quality’ of the plants as food sources of herbivores, which provide the base of any ecological community. Plant nutrient status is an important determinant of insect herbivore distribution and abundance, and as the heather and trees will be growing in nutrient poor substrates it is possible that their nutrient status will be different to similar species growing in adjacent areas on native soils. Should this be the case then the assemblage of animals that establishes in the quarries may differ from that in adjacent areas.

In order to test this, the abundance of detritivores and insect herbivores will be monitored in the re-establishment plots, and the structure of these communities will be compared with that of communities occurring on similar vegetation in adjacent areas. Insect herbivore sampling will be undertaken with a suction trapper on heather plots and through beating on trees. A combination of core samples and pitfall traps will be used to monitor the detritivores. Nutrient analysis of plants will also be undertaken. Invertebrate sampling will be undertaken between April and September on the Welsh and Irish sites in each of the three years of the project. In addition standard bird counts will be undertaken four times a year on each site.

Potential linkage of the databases containing the monitoring results to the project’s GIS, as a means of organising, and representing the progress of restoration, will be investigated.

Confirmation of validity of environmental monitoring program.

Proposed start date: April, 2000 Estimated duration: 3 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 9

5.6.1 Objective Measurement of biodiversity

Task Co-ordinator: Professor Gareth John Edwards, IES

Associated experts: Dr Edwin Rowe, Dr Julie Williamson, Dr Davey Jones &

Dr John Healey, IES

The biodiversity of the Penrhyn Quarry site will be measured in each year of the programme. In particular, the abundance of below-ground microbial biodiversity and detritivores and insect herbivores will be monitored in the demonstration plots and the structure of these communities compared with that of communities occurring on similar vegetation in adjacent areas. Molecular techniques will be used in the analysis of microbial biodiveristy. Insect herbivore sampling will be undertaken with a suction trapper on heather plots and through beating on trees. A combination of core samples and pitfall traps will be used to monitor the detritivores. Nutrient analysis of plants will also be undertaken. Invertebrate sampling will be undertaken between April and September in each of the three years of the project. Standard bird counts will also be undertaken four times a year during the programme. The extent of accumulation of plant biodiversity through natural regeneration facilitated by different types of established vegetation will be assessed.

Particular attention will be paid to the below-ground microbial biodiversity because of its potential functional significance in the establishment of nutrient cycling and the acceleration of site restoration. Existing research indicates that the establishment of below-ground biodiversity will be a good predictor of the rate of establishment of other, more visible, above-ground vertebrate and plant biodiversity. This will be tested. Particular attention will be focused on the microbial composition of different substrate types and amendments and the way that this effects the subsequent development of site microbial biodiversity and its function. This may indicate that the selection of substrate amendments that are inoculated with the most microbial composition for the site environmental conditions is a key factor in determining restoration success.

Measurement of abundance of detritivores and insect herbivores.

Plant nutrient analysis.

Quarterly bird counts.

Proposed start date: April 2000 Estimated duration: 17 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 10

5.7.1 Objective Implementation of the plant establishment and monitoring programme at the Penrhyn Quarry tree sites, North Wales.

Task Co-ordinator: Dr John Healey & Dr Julie Williamson, IES

Associated experts: Dr Edwin Rowe, Dr Davey Jones, Dr Jeremy Williams &

Professor John Farrar, IES

Mr Terry Rendell, SEC

Monitoring of the sites is essential to understanding the success of the methodologies employed. This task will be to plant two types of tree species (birch and willow) on the three separate substrate types with at least two replicated demonstration plots. Following this planting, the plant success will be monitored monthly by measuring plant survival, height, biomass production and photosynthetic flux rates. A comparison with direct seeding techniques will be undertaken. In addition, the water status at each of the sites will be measured using tensiometers and the composition of available water measured using zero-tension leachate traps and ceramic suction samplers. The amount of rainfall, rainfall chemistry, temperature regimes, wind speeds and sunlight hours will be recorded at each of the sites and correlated with the plant growth data. All the results will be placed in a database and statistically analysed using the computer package SAS. Then, subject to the success of developmental work they will be represented in the project’s GIS.

Planting of birch and willow trees.

Monitoring of plant success.

Monitoring of environmental chemistry at the demonstration site.

Proposed start date: March, 2000 Estimated duration: 24 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 20

Implementation of the planting and monitoring programme at the Penrhyn Quarry heather sites, N. Wales.

Task Coordinator: Dr Davey Jones & Dr Julie Williamson, IES

Associated experts: Dr Edwin Rowe, Dr John Healey, Dr Jeremy Williams &

Professor John Farrar, IES

Mr Terry Rendell, SEC

Monitoring of the sites is essential to understanding the success of the methodologies employed. This task will be to establish heather on the three separate substrate types on two replicated demonstration plots. Following this establishment, the plants success will be monitored monthly by measuring plant, density, height and biomass production. A comparison will be made between application of heather litter, seeds only and planting. In addition, the water status at each of the sites will be measured along with its quality. The amount of rainfall, rainfall chemistry, temperature regimes, wind speeds and sunlight hours will be recorded at each of the sites and correlated with the plant growth data. All the results will be placed in a database and statistically analysed using the computer package SAS.

Planting of heathers.

Monitoring of plant success.

Monitoring of environmental chemistry at the demonstration site.

Proposed start date: April, 2000 Estimated duration: 23 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 20

Implementation of the plant monitoring programme at Villar del Rey site, Spain; a site with a very similar (slate) substrate to Penrhyn Quarry but very different climate conditions.

Undertaken by: Institute of Environmental Science and Pizarras - Villar del Rey

Task Co-ordinator: Dr Davey Jones, IES

Associated experts: Dr Julie Williamson, Dr Edwin Rowe, Dr John Healey &

Dr Peter Holliman, IES

Mr Terry Rendell & Mr Peter Marston, SEC

Ms Inmaculada Pascua, Villar del Rey

This task will be to provide site specific advice to Villar del Rey staff for the planting of tree species Quercus ilex or Quercus suber (oak) and the shrubs Cistus ladanifer or Cistus salvifolius on the three separate substrate types with at least two replicated demonstration plots (total are 1,250 m²) based on the experiences at Penrhyn Quarry in Year one of the project. Plant success will be monitored monthly by measuring plant survival, height and biomass production. The water status at the site will be measured. Local meteorological data will be correlated with the plant growth data. All the results will be placed in a database and statistically analysed using the computer package SAS.

Specific data relating to the Spanish site are shown below:

The climate in this region is mild, with an Atlantic influence all the year except in the long and dry summer, when it has continental characteristics. The winter is short with only a few days of maximum cold. The spring is also short with very irregular temperatures. The summer and the autumn are the most regular weather seasons. The medium annual temperature is 14.5 ^oC. The minimum temperatures in the winter rarely are below 0 ^oC, while in the summer the maximum is around 45 ^oC. The rain in this area is between 650-725 mm per year. The maximum precipitation occurs at the end of the summer and during the winter, although between December and January there is usually a short drought that coincides with the coldest days of the year. During the spring and at the end of the summer commonly there are big storms.

Plant material of local provenance will be used to recreate natural or seminatural habitats using native species from the Dehesa (this is the name of this biological region):

The most significant species are:

HERBACEOUS PLANTS

SHRUBS

TREES

Advice regarding the planting of birch and willow trees.

Advice regarding the monitoring of plant success.

Measurement of water status at the site.

Proposed start date: January, 2001 Estimated duration: 8 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 3

Implementation of the plant monitoring programme at Dan Morrissey Ltd, Ireland; a site with a similar climate but a different (though non-toxic) substrate to Penrhyn Quarry.

Task co-ordinator: Dr Davey Jones, IES

Associated experts: Dr Julie Williamson, Dr Edwin Rowe, Dr John Healey and

Dr Peter Holliman, IES

Mr Terry Rendell & Mr Peter Marston, SEC

Mr Philip Morrissey, Dan Morrissey (IRL) Ltd

This task will be to provide site specific advice to Dan Morrissey’s staff for the planting of two types of tree species (birch and willow) and heathers on the three separate substrate types with at least two replicated demonstration plots (with total area of 1,250 m²) based on the data from the Year one trials at Penrhyn Quarry. Plant success will be monitored monthly by measuring plant survival, height and biomass production. The water status at the site will be measured along with water quality. Biodiversity measurements will be made which are based on those detailed in Task 6. Local meteorological data will be correlated with the plant growth data. All the results will be placed in a database and statistically analysed using the computer package SAS.

Dan Morrissey’s, Ireland have 3 quarries and 7 gravel pits all with non toxic substrates (e.g. limestone, whinstone, sandstone and gravel limestone). Their current restoration work involves the screening of the quarries and the planting of trees and grasses. The plan is currently to advise Morrissey’s staff to carry out trials at the Wicklow quarry. This is a Dolerite Whinstone quarry of 150 acres with a 285,000 tonne tip. Demonstration plots may be used at other quarries if this is more appropriate based on the first years results from the Penrhyn site. Similar plants will be used for the Irish site as in North Wales (see Table 4) due to the similar climatic conditions. It is hoped that following successful demonstration plots at the Wicklow site the restoration methods will be extended to other Morrissey sites.

Advice regarding the planting of birch and willow trees.

Advice regarding the monitoring of plant success.

Proposed start date: January, 2001 Estimated duration: 8 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 6

Assessment of the substrate amendment techniques in field studies

Task Co-ordinator: Dr Peter Holliman, IES

Associated experts: Dr Davey Jones, Dr Julie Williamson & Dr Edwin Rowe, IES

There are five commercially available polyacrylamide (PAM) gels on the market which could be suitable for aiding the restoration of land which is limited by water and nutrients. The gels have different formulations which make some more suitable to the Welsh or Irish climates and others to the Spanish site. Alternative amendments that have been used include: proprietary composts, sewage sludges, wood residues, animal manures, industrial by-products such as papermill sludge, other organic substances (including spent mushroom compost, food processing waste, seaweed), calcareous materials and pulverised fuel ash. A review of the subject area and discussions with other practitioners will be undertaken to determine a short-list of the amendments of greatest potential value for the project sites. Then an initial study of the water and nutrient capture and release characteristics of the substances and their expected lifespan and breakdown products under varying environmental conditions will confirm the correct choice of substances for each site. The substances will then be incorporated in the field singly and in combination as a component part of Tasks 7, 8, 9 and 10. The water and nutrient holding capacities of the substances will be monitored throughout the life of the programme. This will involve the taking of small sub-samples (1cm³) of the sustance at monthly intervals followed by water and nutrient analysis at IES. The amount of substance remaining will also be determined as described in the technical description in order to assess the lifespan of the substances in the field.

Incorporation of suubstances for substrate amendment into field studies in parallel with Tasks 7,8,9 and 10.

Determination of water and nutrient capture/release of the substances.

Determination of expected lifespan of the substances.

Proposed start date: May, 1999 Estimated duration: 20 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 23

Economic and cost-effective analysis of the restoration programme

Task Co-ordinator: Professor Mark Baird, IES

Associated experts: Professor Gareth Edwards Jones (environmental

economist) & Dr Julie Williamson, IES

All other team partners.

An important consideration of any restoration programme is the cost-effectiveness of the technology being used. This will be determined by adding up the total costs of each of the individual measures needed to ensure project success. This will be compared against the positive long term benefits of the restoration programme (amenity and conservation value). A cost benefit analysis will then be performed.

Determination of cost/benefit ratio of restoration program.

Proposed start date: May, 2002 Estimated duration: 4 months

On request re-task/trial progression and six-monthly plus end of programme reports.

(See GANTT table 'Project Progress'):

Estimated Person*Months of Effort: 7