The Cultural Ecosystem Services and Land Use Characteristics of Mining Ponds in Hungary

Our previous research on mining ponds has focused on their spatial extent and pattern as well their role within nature conservation. We analysed the distribution of their size, time of formation and their role in the greenway network. It was found that over the past half century, thousands of mining ponds have been created in Hungary as a result of raw material extraction. The landscape and nature conservation importance of the water surfaces created by mining activities is considerable after abandonment. This is evidenced by the fact, that according to our former research results, about 28.8% of the mining ponds in Hungary are affected by some kind of nature conservation designation (Módosné et. al., 2019, Varga et. al., 2022) There have already been several landscape studies and analyses on the reuse and ‘welfare’ role of mining ponds at local and regional level (e.g. diploma theses and dissertations at the Faculty of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning of the Szent István University), but no national overview has been produced so far. Therefore, present publication deals with the analysis of the landscape characteristics and cultural ecosystem services of water surfaces, mining ponds and their riparian zones created by mining on a national scale. Mining ponds have a significant recreational potential due to their natural values and/or favourable landscape conditions. The after-use of water-filled mine pits can be very diverse: fishing and nature conservation/habitat functions are common, but they can also be used as public parks with recreational and sporting usage (bathing, beaches, water sports, etc.) or even for industrial after-use (e.g. settling ponds). In many places, the reuse causes the encroachment of lakeshores, creating many land-use conflicts. The after-use of mining ponds and the way in which they are rehabilitated after the end of mining activity have a fundamental impact on their ecological and natural value and landscape characteristics (National Landscape Strategy 2017-2026). The topicality of the subject is, among other things, the European Green Deal, and the newly introduced Nature Restoration Act. The aim of this research is to prepare a nationwide geoinformatics analysis and situation analysis on the characteristics of mining ponds created by mining in the last fifty years, and thus how their cultural ecosystem service role can be interpreted in Hungary. Landuse characteristics of the riparian zone of the mining ponds will be analysed within the 30-50 and 300 m buffer zones around the ponds using spatial information methods. For landuse analysis we use our formerly created database of mining ponds and the Hungarian National High Resolution Layer base map. We analyse whether the ‘welfare’ role and landuse characteristics of mining ponds differ by the extraction of different types of raw materials, and whether the size, distance from settlements and agglomeration location of the ponds influence the way they are exploited. Our research results will be supported by more detailed sample area analyses. Data will be provided on the characteristics of the mining ponds that serve as ecotourism sites, and on the location of nature trails, birdwatching sites, or lookouts in the vicinity of mining ponds. The article also presents international and Hungarian best practices on the landscape use characteristics of mining ponds and systems. The results show that, with proper reuse and landscape rehabilitation, mining ponds can become valuable landscape and green infrastructure enriching elements.