Amid the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the EU's Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR), which aims to restore degraded areas in the coming decades, post-mining sites must be integrated into biodiversity and ecosystem recovery strategies as key contributors. While mining, quarrying, and other extractive activities have considerable environmental impacts, they also present massive opportunities to create valuable habitats, support biodiversity, guide restoration efforts, and contribute to conservation. A strong foundation of scientific and practical knowledge is already in place, yet implementation gaps persist, and regulatory frameworks remain under-utilised for restoring these degraded areas. Under-exploited pathways exist to reconcile development needs with NRR restoration goals. To maximise the biodiversity potential of post-mining sites, we emphasise the need for: (1) Site-specific scientific assessments and long-term monitoring; (2) Practical restoration guidelines for European habitats; (3) The strategic use of restored site networks as demonstration areas; (4) Active stakeholder engagement; and (5) Supportive policies.

cE3c Centre for Ecology Evolution and Environmental Changes and CHANGE Global Change and Sustainability Institute Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa 1749 016 Lisbon Portugal

CREAF 08193 Bellaterra Catalonia Spain

Department for Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning Anhalt University of Applied Sciences Strenzfelder Allee 28 06406 Bernburg Germany

Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering University of Lleida Av Alcalde Rovira Roure 191 25198 Lleida Spain

Department of Botany Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760 CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Milano Bicocca Piazza della Scienza 1 20126 Milan Italy

Ecology Area Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Gestión Forestal Sostenible ETSIIAA University of Valladolid Avda Madrid 44 34004 Palencia Spain

Gembloux Agro Bio Tech Biodiversity Ecosystems Landscapes Team University of Liège Passage des Déportés 2 5030 Gembloux Belgium

Institute for Multidisciplinary Research University of Belgrade Kneza Viseslava 1 11030 Belgrade Serbia

Joint Research Unit CTFC AGROTECNIO CERCA Av Alcalde Rovira Roure 191 25198 Lleida Spain

MED Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture Environment and Development and CHANGE Global Change and Sustainability Institute UBC Conservation Biology Lab Department of Biology ECT University of Évora 7006 554 Évora Portugal

Research Institute for Nature and Forest Herman Teirlinckgebouw Havenlaan 88 Bus 73 1000 Brussels Belgium

School of Environmental Sciences University of Liverpool Jane Herdman Building 4 Brownlow St Liverpool L3 5DA UK

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