Reclamation and Restoration Resources
Reclamation, horticulture, and restoration occurs on a large scale and requires different resources than the personal, community or commercial use of native plants. Private and public lands that are disturbed by most industrial activity are required to be reclaimed to the adjacent reference community or to equivalent land use – often a native plant community.
Below are links to the regulatory response to the use of native plants in reclamation; and the academic, industry and professional-sponsored research into the restoration and reclamation techniques at the ecological community scale.
- Native Plant Revegetation Guidelines for Alberta
- Establishing Native Plant Communities: A Primer by Heather Sinton and David Walker
- Revegetation using native plants: guidelines for industrial development sites
- Guide to common northern rangeland plant communities and their management
- ANPC Iris Newsletter No. 89 Winter 2022: Establishing Native Plant Communities: A Primer
- Canadian Land Reclamation Association: An association of all professionals working on industrial reclamation in Alberta. Their publication “Canadian Reclamation” is a valuable source of information on reclamation in practice.
- Grasslands Restoration Forum: Native grassland range community guides, recovery strategies for dry mixed-grass, mixed-grass, northern fescue and foothills fescue, foothills parkland and montane subregions, and native seed sources.
- NAIT Centre for Boreal Research: research support for forest and peatland restoration and reclamation, seed technology.
- Society for Ecological Restoration, Western Canada Chapter: connects ecological restoration practitioners with best knowledge and practice through their journal and website, and advocates restoration to a multi-sectoral audience
- Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) is an alliance of oil sands producers focused on accelerating the pace of improvement in environmental performance in Canada’s oil sands through collaborative action and innovation.
- Carex Establishment on Reclaimed Oil Sands Landscapes: A Case Study at Suncor Energy Inc., April, 2011 (Part I – Carex adusta to loliacea)
- Carex Establishment on Reclaimed Oil Sands Landscapes: A Case Study at Suncor Energy Inc., August, 2012 (Part II – Carex media to Carex vulpinoidea)
Surveys, Conservation and Management Resources
- Subregional planning under the Alberta Land Use Framework is underway. This is an opportunity to help conserve and protect sensitive ecosystems while improving economic and recreation opportunities. More information here.
- ANPC Guidelines on Plant Rescues
- ANPC’s Plant Collection Guidelines for Horticultural Use of Native Plants
- ANPC’s Plant Collection Guidelines for Researchers, Students and Consultants
- ANPC’s Plant Collection Guidelines for Wildcrafters
- ANPC Guidelines for Rare Plant Surveys in Alberta
- Recommended Documents for Botanical Surveys in Areas of Proposed Disturbance – 2010
- Adopt-a-Plant Alberta Program Summary
- Benefits to Reporting Rare Species Information
- Beneficial management practices for renewable energy projects: Reducing the Footprint in Alberta’s Native Grassland, Parkland and Wetland Ecosystems, Alberta Prairie Conservation Forum.
- Recommended Principles and Guidelines for Minimizing Disturbance of Native Prairie from Wind Energy Development. Foothills Restoration Forum and the Native Prairie Working Group.
Conservation Data Centres
- Alberta Conservation Information Management System
- NatureServe – A network connecting science with conservation.
- British Columbia Conservation Data Centre
- Montana Natural Heritage Program
- Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre