Abandoned mines are those in which mining activity has ceased and there is no entity or company that can be traced to take responsibility for their maintenance or reclamation. It has been reported that there are approximately 6,150 abandoned mines in South Africa and it is estimated that it will cost $US4.2 billion to rehabilitate these mines over a very long period of time. The South African Department of Mineral Resources has set a reclamation target of 12 abandoned mines per year. This low target is what led to the interest in understanding the dynamics of abandoned mine reclamation in South Africa. An online survey of environmental experts in South Africa was conducted from December 2014 to January 2015 to elicit their opinions on the public's perception of abandoned mine reclamation and to assess whether their views are aligned in terms the cost of reclamation, sources of funding, how to accelerate the process of reclamation and credible sources of information for environmental issues. A total of 54 responses were collected, with good representation of respondents from each province in South Africa although the majority came from Gauteng, Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. The results of the survey revealed that there are several challenges that are slowing down the process of reclamation in South Africa including limited sources of funding, water resources at risk, and disproportionate ratio of experts between the private and public sector. About 80% of the respondents in the survey said that the public would not be willing to contribute towards a reclamation fund. A majority of the respondents who consider themselves experts in reclamation were of the opinion that the government and the mining industry should be primarily responsible for reclamation. After careful review of the results and other government reports related to reclamation in South Africa, it appears that the establishment of an abandoned mine reclamation fund would be a good policy for South Africa, as would be conducting studies to explore possible funding options, ring-fencing tax money for special purposes such as reclamation of abandoned mines, and developing guidelines and standards for abandoned mine reclamation or land reclamation.

The Daniel Boone National Forest contains numerous abandoned mine sites left over from eastern Kentucky's long history of coal mining. Many of these abandoned mines are leaching contaminants into the surrounding environment, and the US Forest Service is acting to reclaim these sites to mitigate the negative environmental impacts. There are also several other governmental and non-governmental actors in Appalachia with different conceptualizations of the purpose of reclamation. My research examines the process of mine land reclamation on a protected area within a region with an extensive history of resource extraction. My research builds on previous work within the field of land reclamation to understand different conceptualizations of abandoned mine land reclamation in Appalachia. Content analysis was conducted on DBNF project documentation, interviews with relevant stakeholders, and additional documentation from several state governments, federal agencies, and NGOs. These various documents indicate that government entities tend to conceptualize abandoned mine land reclamation and its purpose in a siloed manner. This stands in contrast to common ecological restoration attitudes, which advocate for a more comprehensive approach. My research reveals that non-governmental actors tend to conceptualize mine land reclamation in a more holistic manner but are less able to exert control over an area. The DBNF largely conceptualizes the purpose of mine land reclamation as achieving ecosystem restoration but may benefit from working more closely with various NGOs and adopting a similarly holistic approach. Opening a dialogue between these actors could help address the knowledge gap present at the DBNF's AML sites.