Ingrid Meek

​Energy Resources Australia Ltd
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Ingrid has over 18 years’ experience in environmental roles in northern Australian mining operations, including at manganese, bauxite, lead-zinc and uranium mines. With a PhD in development of assessment criteria for mine site rehabilitation, she has technical capability and qualifications in environmental management, restoration ecology, completion criteria, mine site rehabilitation and closure planning. Ingrid has experience in stakeholder and regulatory engagement and environmental monitoring and management program development and implementation. 
Ingrid has recently joined ERA Ranger mine to assist in preparing and implementing the imminent revegetation of the final landform and other disturbed areas. 
​Abstract
The revegetation strategy at ERA Ranger uranium mine 

ERA Ranger uranium mine, in Australia’s Northern Territory, ceased mining in 2012 and rehabilitation activities, including revegetation, shall be completed by 2026, followed by a post-closure monitoring and maintenance period. 

The final landform will be made from waste rock and is to be revegetated to establish a self-sustaining native ecosystem, similar to the eucalypt savanna woodlands that dominate the surrounding area of the Kakadu National Park. The revegetation strategy is to initially establish framework overstorey species along with a subset of important and predictable midstorey and understorey species. These species form the ‘framework’ for the ecosystems, controlling much of a site’s nutrient and water resources, providing many of the core habitat values for other plants and animals, and contributing substantially to both the overall functioning and long-term stability of the plant communities.

As the initial plantings establish and develop, the soil and litter layer will develop, canopy should increase providing shade, and plants will develop attributes resilient to fires (e.g. stem diameter, lignotubers). It is at this stage that introductions of additional species are planned to improve the composition and structure of the ecosystem. 
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This two-stage approach to species establishment harnesses ecological processes such as vegetation community and soil development, and species-specific environmental preferences, to underpin the Ranger rehabilitation strategy. This paper reviews the natural ecological processes that govern the eucalypt-dominated ecosystems of the region and discusses the current Ranger Revegetation Strategy and its validation by a 10-year-long field assessment on the Ranger trial landform.
Conference Speakers
Workshop Convenors
​Wednesday:
Stream 1 - Pathways to relinquishment and opportunities to transition to productive alternate land uses Stream 2 - ​Understanding Acid Mine Drainage / Acid Rock Drainage and the implications for rehabilitation and closure Stream 3 - ​Harnessing Hyperaccumulator Plants to Phytoremediate Contaminated Mining Sites Stream 4 - Issues in Tropical Forest Rehabilitation Post Mining​