Who cleans up the mess? Exploring community-based solutions for rehabilitating Ghana's artisanal and small-scale mining lands

In the absence of effective state mechanisms to enforce more sustainable mining and post-mining practices, the question arises whether community-based solutions could be a “second-best” strategy to restore lands that have been degraded and abandoned after small-scale mining in developing countries, which is also referred to as Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM). This paper applies social capital theory and political ecology to address this question. On this basis, we used qualitative methods, including the Net-Map tool, to analyze a unique case of an NGO-initiated, community-based ASM land restoration project in Ghana. The objective was to examine the conditions under which communities are willing to ensure sustainable land rehabilitation outcomes. The findings reveal that there is community support for reclaiming and remediating former ASM lands using communal labor. However, this support depends on land tenure and benefit sharing arrangements. Traditional authorities were perceived as among the most influential actors to ensure a positive outcome, as they have the power to enact and enforce local laws, norms, rules and practices, and sanction noncompliance with regards to customary land management. In contrast, local community members and landowners, on the other hand, were seen as being largely unorganized, having different land use priorities and lacking secure land tenure. To encourage community-based rehabilitation of land degraded by ASM, policy interventions need to facilitate clear land tenure agreements and equitable distribution of post-restoration benefits. Overall, this study shows that community-based solutions has the potential to be a second-best option for mined-land rehabilitation. These efforts need to pay close attention to social networks, power relations, norms, rules, and practices to ensure their success and to ensure that community members truly benefit from restoration outcomes. • Informal small-scale mining causes extensive land degradation • We analyze a unique community-based restoration project in Ghana through a combined social capital theory and political ecology lenses • Communities support reclamation and remediation but preferences depend on land tenure and benefit sharing arrangements • Stakeholder Net-Mapping highlight the role of traditional authorities in the restoration process • Successful community-based restoration requires attention to networks, rules, norms and practices