This study, which was conducted in cooperation between the Kainuu Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY), the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) and the University of Helsinki (UHEL), aimed to compare the required monitoring of water bodies affected by mining activities and to evaluate and developed benthic fauna methods during 2020–2022. The project was divided into two parts, the first of which (sub report A) was carried out by ELY and assessed the required monitoring programmes of water bodies. The second part of the project (sub report B) was conducted by SYKE and UHEL and it compared the suitability and differences of the two different benthic fauna methods in the evaluation of the ecological state of water bodies located downstream from mines. The purpose of the project was to respond to the concerns regarding the monitoring of mining activities by gathering data, conducting a comprehensive review of the existing data and listing development proposals. Sub report A included a review section that examined 42 mines and three refineries operating in Finland. Required monitoring is an essential part of the supervision of activities subject to authorisation. The study focused on collecting data from the physico-chemical and biological observations included in the monitoring of water bodies, the variables presented in this data and the observation frequency. The water body monitoring data has been collected from permit decisions, monitoring plans or programmes as well as from annual reports on the required monitoring. As regards locations and water body monitoring, data was collected on location, mining activities in the area, ore rock types and/or mining waste minerals, surface water types, water bodies and the different variables monitored in them, to the extent that data was available. In addition, a survey was conducted among the regional authorities and other authorities participating in the supervision of the mining industry in the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. In Finland, benthic fauna communities have been widely used in monitoring the state of lakes and in assessing the effects of the environmental burden caused by human activities. In sub report B, one of the main goals of the study was to compare the differences between the Ekman sampling used for monitoring purposes and the palaeolimnological method surveying the remains of Chironomidae in the sediment collected from the same location and the ability to identify the effects of the environmental burden on the lakes located near mines. The palaeolimnological approach is the only method for determining the state and development history of a lake ecosystem before systematic monitoring. Another main goal of the study was to produce information on the suitability of benthic communities and the monitoring methods of benthic fauna in the required monitoring of water bodies affected by mines and, in general, on the importance of these methods in lake monitoring. The project produced a wide range of information on the current status of the required monitoring of water bodies that receive mine water and on the application potential of various benthic fauna methods in the required monitoring.