​Travis Peake

Umwelt Environmental Consultants
Picture
Travis Peake is an ecologist with over 20 years of experience in vegetation mapping, threatened ecological community analysis, impact and offset assessment, and ecological management. He has a particular interest in the re-establishment of threatened ecological communities in mining landscapes, and envisages the synergy of biodiversity offsets, ecological rehabilitation, protected area management and agricultural landscape management to provide the framework for the future conservation of species and ecosystems in Australia. Travis is the National Ecology Leader for Umwelt.
​Abstract
Ecological Mine Rehabilitation - Preliminary Outcomes of an ACARP-funded Study
​
Regulatory agencies increasingly require proponents to demonstrate that mine rehabilitation meets a certain level of ecological function and self-sustainability.  But increasingly, mine rehabilitation is becoming a focus for the re-establishment of native vegetation and habitats. Previous studies have provided preliminary but encouraging indications that complex ecological mine rehabilitation is possible, but they have pointed to the need for more thorough investigations.  Is it possible for recognisable and self-sustaining ecological communities to be established through mine rehabilitation?

Umwelt, in collaboration with OEH, have sampled a range of field attributes at numerous sites in the Hunter Valley, including mine rehabilitation and reference (analogue) sites. Data have also been sourced from a range of other sites in NSW and Queensland. The recognisability and function of rehabilitation was assessed and compared to native vegetation and threatened ecological communities listed under legislation. Although the full analysis is due to be reported later this year, the preliminary results will be presented and discussed. 
​
This ACARP-funded project aims to develop guidelines, criteria and valuation of ecological rehabilitation to incentivise the coal mining industry to improve performance as well as to support regulatory mechanisms for biodiversity offsetting using mine rehabilitation.
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 in Borneo