From environmental reclamation to the valorisation of old mining sites. The role of the Geomining Park

Abstract

The essay introduces the theme of the failure and/or limited start of reclamation activities, with a few very rare exceptions, of disused mining sites in Sardinia. The closure of the island’s mines, a process that can be considered completed in the early 1990s, has produced and continues to produce environmental pollution, both in mine dumps and subsoils and in surface waters, with the release of heavy minerals that are extremely harmful to human health. A significant role in the valorisation of the rich mining heritage should have been played by the Parco Geominerario della Sardegna (Geomining Park of Sardinia), created precisely for the purpose of managing, also for tourism purposes, the disused mining sites. With a few rare exceptions, this has not been possible because the reclamation, preliminary to any phase or project of territorial development, has not been carried out. The bouncing back and forth of competences between the entities involved, the delays in regional bureaucracy, and the inability of the political leadership to make decisions have compromised and left the economic development of the vast historical and cultural heritage represented by the former mining areas at the pole. To date, there are few virtuous examples of environmental redevelopment that do not, however, change the current state of stalemate in the processes of economic valorisation of the former mining territories.