Spotlight on Dr Todd Erickson, Ecological Restoration Theme Leader at CEI: AgER
WA is home to multiple biodiversity hotspots, characterised by significant endemism (plant and animal species native to a single geographic location). It is also home to the most mine sites in Australia. While these two characteristics do not typically go hand in hand, here in WA it has produced a uniquely collaborative environment bringing together mining industry giants, government bodies, and researchers.
Dr Todd Erickson is one person who embodies this unique spirit of collaboration wearing several hats including: Ecological Restoration Theme Leader at CEI: AgER, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia’s School of Agriculture and Environment, and Principal Restoration Ecologist at Biologic Seed Pty Ltd. Dr Erickson works closely with major industry partners, including BHP and Alcoa, in the restoration of open-cut and strip-based mine sites.
“I think it’s the fact that our beautiful biodiversity shares the same physical location as a resource-dependent economy. Managing this overlap really drives a synergy between government, academics and industry and the creation of an evidence-based approach to mine rehabilitation,” he says in an interview with Carrie Cox for the UWA Expert Series.
Mine rehabilitation is a tricky business. Mining creates a major disturbance to the natural environment, leaving the land with a changed chemical and physical composition. Even with the right balance of seeds, place, season, and weather, successful plant establishment is an extremely difficult goal.
As Dr Erickson explains, “Some of our land systems in WA are so ancient that they don’t rapidly recover from disturbance compared to Northern Hemisphere systems. It’s why an evidence-based approach to rehabilitation is so critical.”
Mine site prior to restoration
Mine site with successful restoration (work done by Dr Erickson and his team from CEI:AgER)
One positive change he has seen working alongside industry partners, is the commitment to going above and beyond when it comes to mine site restoration. A few decades ago, a lack of rules, regulations, and structure regarding the responsibility of mining companies to restore sites on project completion, meant barren landscapes, abandoned mines, or incongruous vegetation planting were not uncommon.
Dr Erickson remarks “nowadays the social licence to mine means many companies want to go beyond mere compliance and meet the community’s expectation.” This positive change in attitude is a big tick for the environment and local community, where true representations of native plant species are now appearing on restored sites.
Dr Erickson is the project lead for the Australian Seed Scaling Initiative, and the Restoration Engineering Seed Technology Deployment Program here at CEI:AgER. He along with his team are working to make advancements in Australian native seed restoration on former mine sites, amongst the impending challenge of climate change.