Post-mining rehabilitation
Post-mining rehabilitation · French Guiana
From bare mining ground to a validated young forest, by air.
In French Guiana, deep in the Amazon, MORFO rehabilitated a former alluvial gold-mining site for a mining company. It was MORFO's first project, a remote site reachable only by air, and it took bare, highly acidic ground to continuous vegetation cover, confirmed by NDVI, in about three years, validated by the environmental authorities.
- Biome
- Amazon
- Status
- Validated, ongoing
Alluvial gold mining had stripped the site to bare, highly acidic, erosion-prone ground with almost no vegetation. It sat deep in the forest, reachable only by air, which shaped every logistics decision. The task was to limit erosion, rebuild soil fertility and set natural regeneration in motion.
With no road access, the whole operation was designed around the air.
Diagnose
The site read and a species list built from natives of the region, seeds treated and encapsulated before deployment.
Plant by drone
A small team, one drone and a minimal load flew the seeding over a short field window. The constraint of a fly-in-only site turned into the method.
Monitor
Drone and satellite imagery on a regular cycle, tracking cover, regeneration and the arrival of new species over the years.
On bare mining ground, the first job is to hold the soil and restart the natural cycle, not to plant a finished forest. Native pioneers close the ground and create the conditions for later species to establish, including species that arrive on their own once the cover is there. Over three years, that turned bare spoil into a young, multi-species forest.
Feb 2022
First seeding, MORFO's first project.
Year 1
Cover established, early regeneration under way.
About 3 years
Continuous vegetation cover NDVI-confirmed, project validated by the environmental authorities.
2026Last updated
Four years on, vegetation cover measured at 81%, up from 0% on bare mining ground at the start.
A young forest in formation, validated, not a mature forest, on one of the hardest starting points there is.
- Bare mining ground to continuous vegetation cover, NDVI-confirmed, in about three years.
- The most advanced trees already several metres tall.
- Validated by the environmental authorities.
0 → 81%
vegetation cover in four years, from bare mining ground
Validated
by the environmental authorities
588/ha
trees on average, up to 1,302 in the most advanced zones
21
tree species, including natural arrivals
Native species were selected for the region, with drone and satellite monitoring on a regular cycle. The recovery of rare and endangered species is tracked as a success indicator.
Delivered for a mining company, kept generic. Validated by the environmental authorities.
- Continued monitoring of density, diversity and natural recruitment as the young forest matures.
The site that started MORFO, and the proof that the method holds on the hardest ground.
Turn degraded land into a project that holds.
Send us an area. We will tell you if it is viable, and how.