Mine Reclamation Is Not Just to Make the Mine Lands to be Green
Mine reclamation is not to change the abandoned mine land to be green but it must have added value and provide benefits to various stakeholders of the those former mines. This statement was described by Chairman of the Forum on Rehabilitation of Mine Land, Jeffrey Muliono, on the National Seminar and Training Course on "Problems and Reclamation Model of Mine Lands to create Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Based Environment", at Campus Dramaga, Bogor, on 21-23 June 2012.
"Mining business has a very important role to support the national economy, and will contribute significantly to the society welfare," he said. Therefore, mining should operate according to the standard procedures and should be contolled by skillful person who are expert on mining environmental management. This should be implemented as we borrow the present natural resources from our future children and grandchildren, "he said.
Similar statement was also expressed by the lecturer of the Department of Silviculture of Faculty of Forestry, Dr. Ir. Irdika Mansur, M.For. Sc. He said that without good handling, the costs to be incurred by the government to restore the of ecological, social and economic functions of mined land will exceed the profits earn from mining businesses.
"The reclamation processes of mined lands in Indonesia is improved continuesly, ranging from a minimum reclamation to make it just green, into regreening, pay attention to local knowledge, diverse, and productive," said Dr. Irdika. According to him, with the current available technology, mine reclamation creates degraded forests to be useful landscapes that meet a variety of goals ranging from the restoration of productive ecosystems to the creation of other farming industries, such as fisheries, animal husbandry, and agriculture.
Dr. Irdika stated some examples of mined lands that have been successfully remediated to be agriculture lands, are the cultivation of rubber plantation (PT Karya Ketaun and PT Karya Utama Tambang Jaya), palm oil plantation (PT Adaro Indonesia), and cocoa and tropical fruits plantation (PT Berau Coal) and so on.
The event which was organized by the Graduate Students Forum (Forum Wacana) was officially opened by Rector of IPB, Prof. Dr. Ir. Herry Suhardiyanto, M.Sc, and Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Ir. Yonny Kusmaryono, Mr. Bambang Sasigit (Directorate General of Mineral and Coal – Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources), Mr. Marjuki Iswandi (Forum Rector Indonesia), and Chairman of the Forum Wacana, Mr. Muhammad Yusuf, were invited as the keynote speakers for the special event. (Wied)
