Prioritizing Zones for Caribou Habitat Restoration in the Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) Area V4.0

Authors
Melanie Dickie
Caroline Bampfylde
Robert Serrouya
Contacts
Resource Date:
April
2022
Page Length
19

Seismic lines and other linear features (roads, railways, trails, transmission lines, pipelines, etc.) are pervasive in Alberta’s boreal forest. It is estimated that there are approximately 100,000 km of conventional seismic lines in the Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) area of interest that fall within caribou ranges. Seismic lines have been identified as a leading factor in the decline of woodland caribou so prioritizing these areas for restoration are important in the recovery of woodland caribou and their habitat.

This report represents Version 4.0. Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) has worked with the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) to prioritize townships for the restoration of linear features within five caribou ranges in northeast Alberta: Cold Lake, East Side of the Athabasca River, Red Earth, Richardson, and West Side of the Athabasca River. This version incorporates current project lease area boundaries. The overarching goal of this iterative project has been to provide a tool to help guide where to prioritize restoration to benefit caribou in a cost-effective manner while maintaining resource development on a shared landscape.

In versions 1.0 and 2.0, each township’s priority was based on the potential increase of undisturbed caribou habitat that could be achieved through linear feature restoration, accounting for both the restoration cost and the potential for future resource development. Version 3.0 built upon this work, to incorporate caribou habitat value, update information on current and future industrial disturbance, including both energy and forestry, and add decision-support guidance at multiple spatial scales.

For version 1 of this report, please refer to Prioritizing Zones for Caribou Habitat Restoration in the Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance Area V1.0 (https://www.cclmportal.ca/resource/prioritizing-zones-caribou-habitat-restoration-canadas-oil-sands-innovation-alliance-0)

For version 2 of this report, please refer to Prioritizing Zones for Caribou Habitat Restoration in the Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance Area V2.0 (https://www.cclmportal.ca/resource/prioritizing-zones-caribou-habitat-restoration-canadas-oil-sands-innovation-alliance-area)

For version 3 of this report, please refer to Prioritizing Zones for Caribou Habitat Restoration in the Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance Area V3.0 (https://www.cclmportal.ca/resource/prioritizing-zones-caribou-habitat-restoration-canadas-oil-sands-innovation-alliance-1)