Mining pits must be transformed into new nature once they have been emptied of gravel, sand, stone and other raw materials.
It requires Danish Regions.
– Old raw material tombs have a unique potential for creating green oases for the benefit of humans, animals and plants.
– Right now we do not have control over what the raw material mines are used for when they are finished, but we will get that with the new proposal, says Heino Knudsen (S), chairman of the Committee for Environment and Resources in Danish Regions, in a press release .
As it is now, the landowner who owns an area that has been depleted of raw materials can choose to lay the area out to nature.
This must be done in consultation with the municipality.
But the owner can also choose to finish the area so that it can be used for agriculture.
Danish Regions believes that in future it must be a requirement that the areas are transformed into nature areas in all cases.
And the regions believe that they should be the only authority in the area.
– We need more nature in Denmark, and this is a good way to both promote biodiversity and create new recreational areas, says Heino Knudsen.
He points out that the depleted raw material mines can become a great asset for nature.
They are often characterized by the fact that it is nutrient-poor soil, which is a scarce commodity in the cultivated Danish landscape.
Here live a number of rare plant species, herbs and insects, whose living conditions are otherwise under pressure in many places.
But if the regions are to control that all raw material mines are laid out for nature, then you also have to pay for it, it sounds from agriculture.
– If the regions want to step in and control that agricultural land is to be converted to nature areas instead, then they just have to buy out the farmers, says vice chairman of Agriculture & Food Thor Gunnar Kofoed to dr.dk.
In 2019, according to Danish Regions, 64 percent of the emptied raw material pits were converted to nature.
27 percent of the areas were post-treated for agricultural purposes.
Source: The Nordic Page