Innovation Anthology #533:

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Reclaiming an oil sands mine is involves more than filling a hole with dirt and planting trees.

As Dr. Simon Landhausser presented at the recent CONRAD Conference on Oil Sands Reclamation, it’s about rebuilding a sustainable forest ecosystem.

Dr. Landhausser holds an Industrial Chair in Forest Land Reclamation at the University of Alberta.

DR SIMON LANDHAUSSER: The important thing is we cannot see the forest just for a plot of land with trees on it. We have to see it in context of the overall landscape and the landforms. We have to see it in context of the hydrology of the whole area, not only the mining areas but also the surrounding areas of the undisturbed forest and how it’s being incorporated into that landscape. So these are big, big questions which in collaboration with groups nationally and internationally, we are trying to get a handle on what those processes are and what those linkages are between uplands and lowlands, between wetlands and peatlands, and how the landscape is going to effect all these factors down the road.

A major challenge for Dr. Landhausser and his colleagues is a changing climate. There is much uncertainty as to how a natural forest will respond to climate change, let alone a reclaimed one.

Thanks today to Syncrude

I’M CHERYL CROUCHER

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Syncrude

Program Date: 2013-02-12