Wasteland Renewal | earthrise

Bangka Island in Indonesia has a long history of tin mining. Years of extraction have taken their toll on the land, leaving it acidic, cratered and unsuitable for agriculture.
A group of businessmen who used to be involved in the mining industry are transforming 300 hectares of ruined land, turning it into a lush botanical garden with fisheries, paddocks, fruit gardens and paddy fields.
I spent four days with them, learning how they are bringing this scarred terrain back to life – applying dolomite limestone to reduce the acidity of the soil, shovelling a huge amount of dung produced by the garden’s resident herd of 400 cattle and attempting to milk a rather bolshy cow.