Pedraforca is a well-known mountain in Catalonia, to the extent that it has become emblematic of the region. Perhaps less well known is the fact that open-cast coal mining operations were carried out on its slopes in the 1980s, leaving the surrounding soil badly affected. Now, the scars of this damage are barely visible in the forest. The person responsible for restoring the area was a young Josep Maria Alcañiz, who worked alongside Oriol Ortiz and other colleagues. The CREAF and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) researchers were commissioned to restore the soil's fertility, and by applying organic waste they pioneered soil restoration in Catalonia. This led to the formation of a research group that is still active today.
The success of that initial collaboration formed the basis for a fruitful partnership between CREAF and the Generalitat de Catalunya administration that has spanned over 30 years. The partnership's primary objective is to restore habitats whose soils have been severely degraded due to factors such as fire, extractive activities, and soil contamination. Several protocols have been developed for the Waste Agency of Catalonia, the Directorate General for Environmental Quality (DGQA), the Catalan Water Agency, and the Directorate General for Mobility Infrastructures, to name a few. These protocols have been implemented over time, with a tangible impact: many soils have seen improvements in biodiversity, water content and carbon sequestration capacity thanks to them.
Collaborating with this research group has been crucial in promoting more sustainable restoration practices in mining activities. These practices have influenced both the mining industry and public policy and have succeeded in revitalising degraded soils and ecosystems.
Xavier Carbonell
“Collaborating with this research group has been crucial in promoting more sustainable restoration practices in mining activities. These practices have influenced both the mining industry and public policy and have succeeded in revitalising degraded soils and ecosystems. The protocols developed by CREAF have been applied extensively and have enabled us to carry out objective monitoring, detect significant environmental improvements and improve the efficiency and precision of our inspection work", emphasises Xavier Carbonell. From 2006 until February 2025, he was head of the Environmental Information, Inspection and Control of Activities Service at the DGQA, the unit responsible for the environmental assessment, monitoring and restoration of extractive activities.
To achieve this milestone, we must acknowledge the research carried out at CREAF since the 1990s to discover how organic and mineral waste generated in municipalities and cities can be reused to restore soil health. The remains used in Pedraforca were only the first step in what are now known as organic amendments: organic 'leftovers' from municipal waste, farm waste, sewage sludge and similar materials that still have useful properties for restoring the fertility of damaged soils.
We have been studying for years how applying organic amendments improves soil health, and we have seen that it has many benefits. For example, it helps to retain more carbon, increase soil fertility and biodiversity, and prevent erosion.
Thus, under the leadership of Vicenç Carabassa and Xavier Domene following the Alcañiz legacy, our experts design the characteristics of the ‘new’ soil and the organic amendments to be applied. These are known as “tailor-made soils” or technosoils, and they reduce restoration costs by between 20% and 50%. Pure circular bioeconomy. The FAO's inclusion of these protocols in its best practice guidelines is evidence of this success, as is the reuse of more than 70,000 tonnes of waste so far.
“We have been studying for years how applying organic amendments improves soil health, and we have seen that it has many benefits. For example, it helps to retain more carbon, increase soil fertility and biodiversity, and prevent erosion,” explains Carabassa.
One of the best-known protocols currently in use is RESTOCAT, which was developed in collaboration with the Directorate General for Climate Change and Environmental Quality. It explains how to evaluate restoration measures in mines and their ecological status. To date, it has enabled the monitoring of over 800 abandoned mines and the identification of priority areas for restoration and ecosystem recovery once the decision to close the mines has been made. A protocol for using drones to monitor active mines has also been included, and has been applied to 10% of active mines in Catalonia. This activity has also led to the Group's significant involvement in the Catalan Aggregates Guild, with CREAF becoming an institutional member of the recognised 'Spanish Network for the Restoration of Mines and Quarries'.
A technician examines soil quality as part of an ecological restoration project. Image Galdric Mossoll
In addition to the practical impact conveyed through protocols, manuals and monitoring plans, we have also played an important role in shaping the territory's legislation. The restoration of the Pedraforca mines led to the passing of the pioneering Catalan restoration law in 1981, which gave CREAF a strong reputation. This reputation has continued to this day. Thanks to decades of applied research, CREAF has played a key role in reinterpreting and applying this law from an ecological and sustainable perspective. This has transformed restoration from a mere technical obligation into an opportunity to restore vital ecological functions such as water retention, carbon sequestration, and habitat and biodiversity recovery.
