Whither reclamation research?

This is the title of an article just published in Mineral Planning, the journal specifically for the minerals industry (http://www.dcservices.co.uk/news/login/1222859/). In it, Andy Moffat argues that there is a danger of losing contact with the substantial body of research undertaken in the last quarter of the 20th century – simply because it predated the digital revolution and is now out of print. In addition, the level of research today is considerably less than it was, despite an obvious need to keep up with both technological change and significant changes in policy on the use of brownfield land. Andy suggests that the focus for new science should be in the integration of knowledge in order to develop trusted decision support tools for the reclamation sector.