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 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 McAlpine Slate 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 success of the project and EU adoption of the demonstrated technology will depends upon effective dissemination pathways (Figure 6). 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). 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.

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". 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 (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.

5.3 Anticipated extension of the project at the local, national and Community level

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.