The use of manual surface seeding, liming & fertilization in the reclamation of acid metal‐contaminated land in the Sudbury, Ontario mining and smelting region of Canada

A method has been devised for the establishment of a grass‐legume cover on steep, eroded, barren slopes by the manual application of limestone, fertilizer and seeds without prior site‐preparation. Over a four year period, more than one thousand ha of acid, copper‐ and nickel‐contaminated land has been vegetated in this way, using government‐funded summer student employment programmes. Native woody plants are showing rapid colonization of these grassed sites giving rise to optimism that a stable, self‐sustaining plant community will develop.