Prospective research on ecological protection and restoration of open pit mining areas in the northern sand prevention belts

BackgroundThe northern sand prevention belts is a key area for combating desertification and sandification in China. Within this region, there is a severe shortage of water resources, and the soil is barren with serious problems of desertification and salinization. Additionally, large - scale open - pit coal mines in the area have massive stripping volumes, which cause intense disturbances to the geotechnical environment and affect a wide range. As a result, the contradiction between open - pit coal development and ecological protection is prominent. MethodsTaking the large - scale open - pit mining areas in Inner Mongolia, which have the largest area in the northern sand prevention belt and the highest proportion of open - pit coal output, as the research object, we adhere to the systematic engineering concept of addressing both the symptoms and the root causes. We follow the research idea of "loss - reducing mining → three - dimensional water conservation → soil creation and activation → systematic restoration → integrated supervision" and adopt the technical route of integrating the whole chain of "theoretical research → technology research and development → equipment development → integrated demonstration → promotion and application". ResultsWe aim to reveal key scientific issues such as the ecological degradation mechanism, loss - reducing mining and ecological self - maintenance mechanism in large - scale open - pit mining areas of the morthern sand prevention belt, and research and develop a technical system for ecological loss reduction and protection and restoration in large - scale open - pit mining areas of the northern sand prevention belt. ConclusionThis will realize loss - reducing mining, scientific restoration, precise management and control, and self - maintenance of the ecosystem in large - scale open - pit coal mining areas, and build an ecological protection - oriented coal base and an important ecological security barrier in northern China.