Open AccessArtisanal mining plays an important role in the Indonesia economy; however, it has created serious environmental destruction. The prohibition of artisanal mining is not a wise policy and never works. A more valuable strategy is to encourage artisanal mining; however, the associated poor health, safety, and environmental conditions must be improved. Therefore, effective rehabilitation of the environment post mining is essential. Phytoremediation is considered to be one method to achieve this rehabilitation. In this method, the interaction of plant roots with mycorrhiza is one of the key determinants of successful rehabilitation. A study to identify the indigenous mycorrhiza present in soil was carried out at an artisanal gold mining region at Sekotong, West Lombok, Indonesia. Soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of a selection of indigenous plant species for the identification of the associated mycorrhizal fungi. Rhizosphere samples were collected from a normal agricultural soil as well as waste rock and mine tailings. The plants studied were Acassia sp, Gmelina arborea, Leucaena glauca, Tectonia grandis, Manihot utilissima, and Zea mays. There was an abundance of mycorrhizal fungi species associated with all observed plants, with the dominant genus being Glomus. The spore density varied from 77 – 240 spores/100g in natural soils, with the percentage of infected roots varying from 10 to 40%, and decreasing as the soil was disturbed. Some of these mycorrhizal fungi showed a relatively good ability to grow in the heavy metal contaminated gold mine tailing.
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