Tin Mine Reclamation
Bangka Island, Indonesia
Services Provided
Landscape restoration planning, ecological research, agroforestry planning, mine-land reclamation, habitat restoration, alternative livelihood planning, best management practices (BMPs), conceptual design, graphic communication, and community-based restoration planning.
Collaborators
Michael Meihaus, local community cooperatives, local Indonesian NGOs, participating mining companies and potential investors, Fred Phillips Consulting
Restoring Degraded Tin Mine Lands Through Agroforestry and Alternative Livelihoods
The Bangka Island Pilot Project explored strategies for restoring degraded tin mine lands while creating sustainable alternative livelihoods for communities dependent on informal and illegal mining. Located off the southeastern coast of Sumatra, Bangka Island has experienced extensive environmental degradation from tin extraction, including contaminated soil and water and more than 100,000 hectares of degraded mine land.
From 2016–2017, Fred Phillips Consulting and Michael Meihaus developed a conceptual 10-hectare pilot project demonstrating how former mine lands could be reclaimed through reforestation, agroforestry, habitat creation, and agricultural production. The project included research into historical agricultural practices, tin mine reclamation methods, and restoration approaches used on degraded lands in North America. Proposed strategies included soil restoration through regional composting, correction of soil pH and heavy-metal conditions, and the cultivation of crops and useful plants such as pineapple, coconut, dragon fruit, pepper, vetiver grass, bamboo, and citronella.
The pilot was designed as a replicable model that local cooperatives, NGOs, mining companies, and investors could use to transition degraded mining areas toward productive ecologically healthy landscapes. Although the original mining company ultimately did not proceed with its stewardship commitment, the project helped support the formation of a community cooperative and provided restoration concepts and tools for pursuing additional sites across Bangka Island.
