Planting Forests on Derelict Industrial Sites Revives the Land & Its People

By Shanna Edberg
November 23, 2016

In Britain, a plan to reforest land scarred by derelict mine pits, quarries, coal workings, and other industrial wreckage has been successful for both the local environment and for human communities. More than 8.5 million native trees have been planted amidst 500 abandoned industrial sites in the past 25 years, and hundreds of miles of footpaths have been created. The towns in the area, after a period of losing jobs and people, are starting to grow again and create tourist- and wood-based jobs. The forest has also attracted £1bn of inward investment. The water, air, and soil that was polluted by heavy industry is cleaner, and the vegetation helps retain water and conserve the soil.

Climate Protection: Sequesters CO2 Resilience: Reduces water runoff Food & Water: Cleans the water Jobs & Assets: Creates jobs; attracts investment Health, Well-Being, & Safety: Cleans the air and soil; encourages exercise **Connection: **Creates outdoor public spaces for recreation

This post is part of a series on examples of multisolving, or climate-smart policies that simultaneously work to mitigate climate change while providing co-benefits such as the ones described above. The multiple benefits analysis was done using the FLOWER framework.