Title: Land restoration planning for mines in Malawi

This project was carried out to assess the current land restoration planning in mines in Malawi. This was done in consideration of the growing mining sector in Malawi amidst perceptions that it is causing a lot of destruction. The research included a desktop study of Malawi’s and other countries’ laws as well as field visits and interviews in Malawi and Iceland. Laws and guidelines from the Society for Ecological Restoration, Iceland, Australia and Canada were used as a comparison to identify weaknesses in Malawi’s laws and guidelines. The findings show that both government and mining companies are aware of the importance of land restoration. However, weaknesses were found in the land restoration planning process such as inadequate stakeholder consultation, failure of companies to follow Environmental and Social Impact Assessment recommendations, and lack of detailed laws and codes of practice. Access to the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment reports was also difficult. The findings were used to come up with recommendations on the most important points that should be reviewed to improve the land protection and restoration in Malawi mines.