A remediation of environmental (and social) disturbances caused by extensive open cast brown coal mining in northwest Bohemia is a priority for the Czech environmental policy. In order to provide a conceptual basis for the full restoration of land following such disturbances, a special interdisciplinary project supported by a grant from the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic was started in 2000. The initial stage of the project was intended to summarize and evaluate findings and works carried out in connection with various reclamation activities in the afflicted area over a period of more than 50 years.