POST-MINING AREAS RECLAMATION -- CASE STUDY.

Practically, the only area in Poland where mining is carried out by the borehole method is the region of Upper Silesia. This activity results in the degradation of areas. In recent years in Poland (particularly in Upper Silesia) intensive activity has been undertaken to restore biological processes in these areas, regulate the air and water relations, neutralise the toxicity of deposits and give the area a shape convenient for the planned works. Since environment protection does not have a long tradition in Poland, some of the activities undertaken to reclaim the post-mining areas are frequently random and deprived of any specific scientific bases. These problems have been reflected in the records of formal and legal requirements at the level of the union; therefore, they apply to all EU member states. Using an example of one of the mines located in this territory, problems caused by the exploitation of hard coal as well as proposals of solutions to restore these areas „to life” have been presented. General goals and directions of post-mining areas management have been presented as well as the results of conducted research, in which, using a selected example, young people pointed to the directions of degraded areas transformations which they found particularly attractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]