At the end of 2020, 194.6 square kilometers (0.57 percent of the state’s area) in North Rhine-Westphalia were opencast mines, pits and quarries. According to the State Statistical Office.
n purely mathematical terms, more than the size of the island of Fehmarn – 185.4 square kilometers in figures – is used by “holes” in NRW in the form of opencast mines, pits and quarries. Four municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia are particularly affected.
In first place here were
- Inden with 51.7 percent (18.6 square kilometers of the 35.9 square kilometers total area). Followed by
- Niederzier with 37.0 percent (23.5 of 63.5 square kilometers),
- Elsdorf with 29.4 percent (19.5 of 66.2 square kilometers) and
- Jüchen with 29.2 percent (21.0 of 71.9 square kilometers).
Entwicklungsgesellschaft indeland GmbH is working on a concept for the land bridge between the Inden and Hambach open-cast mines: the development of the Rhenish Lake District is increasingly focusing on connecting the three planned open-cast mining lakes. For this reason, the intermediate areas in the Rhenish mining area are now also becoming a topic, i.e. the areas where the plans of the three opencast mining environmental organizations overlap.
After the end of lignite mining, the flooding of the Inden open-cast mine will create the largest lake in North Rhine-Westphalia from 2030. At 1,100 hectares in size, it will be roughly the same size as Lake Tegernsee.
To ensure that indeland remains and becomes a good place to live, especially for young people, Entwicklungsgesellschaft indeland GmbH is targeting the survey at young people between the ages of 14 and 40 who live in the region and want to help shape its future.
