The InnoTech Alberta Reclamation Team sponsored two workshops in Edmonton (November 1, 2016) and Calgary (November 9, 2016) to gather stakeholder input for the Business Case to redesign the Native Species Research Program. Eighteen people from government, resource industry, native plants industry, consultants and research agencies attended the Edmonton session and 17 attended the Calgary session. In addition, two people provided input through a workbook designed to gather the same information as was obtained in the workshops.
The objectives of the workshops were to:
1. To bring together government, industry, and research centres to discuss the role InnoTech Alberta should play to enhance the successful development and deployment of native species for reclamation and remediation.
2. To facilitate refocusing of the InnoTech Alberta Native Species Research Program to better serve the native plants industry in a collaborative capacity.
InnoTech Alberta’s native plant variety development work has helped create the potential for increased use of native plants in reclamation and restoration but the actual supply of seeds is currently limited. Workshop participants noted that plant variety development work is important but there is a broader suite of work required to support the industry, thus they recommended a focus on plant development. The oil sands mining industry is projecting significant increases in areas to be reclaimed in the near future and there will be many kilometres of seismic lines revegetated to support caribou habitat protection – there will drive native species demand.
Research continues to be required to support improvement in the successful use of native plants in remediation, reclamation and restoration work. Participants noted that in addition to the traditional oil and gas, mining and pipeline sectors there are significant opportunities in urban naturalization.
Participants agreed that there is a wealth of knowledge and experience in the province but that we have collectively failed to share it effectively resulting in a lot of reinventing the wheel. It was suggested that InnoTech Alberta could play an important role as a knowledge hub or broker. A number of ideas were provided for tools to share knowledge with the community.