This site was first developed by Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) led by Cenovus Energy Inc., in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada. The continuing goal is to provide a go-to location for information about forest restoration and progressive reclamation techniques in the oil sands region of Alberta. We seek to bring field experiences right to the office to increase learning and awareness of new tools and techniques. This will help build capacity among operators and managers, and lead to better outcomes in the field.
Restoration Defined
Forest restoration is focused on re-establishing trees and plants back onto sites that were previously used for oil sands exploration or development. Restoration generally targets legacy sites that have not recovered to a forest over time (such as legacy seismic lines).
The impact of better planning and implementation
Forests are all around the oil sands area. But returning forests to these areas after development isn’t always easy. The approaches in this site can take years off forest recovery timelines and avoid having to re-enter sites to treat them again.
PROGRESSIVE RECLAMATION
Reclamation involves revegetating recently disturbed sites and developing new habitats, such as creating compensation lakes. Along with restoration, this site will feature progressive reclamation techniques that strive to return a diverse forest community back to developed sites.
DISCOVER HOW TO APPLY NEW IDEAS
Learning new approaches can be tough, but we have you covered. Through videos, factsheets, illustrations and guides, we’ve taken information out of lengthy reports and made it easy to review and implement through our Silvicultural Toolkit.
Learning drives innovation
See how COSIA member companies are using adaptive management to continually learn and innovate.