Canada’s boreal forest is one of the largest remaining intact forest ecosystems in the world and home to songbirds, bears, wolves, bison and the world’s largest caribou herds. Yet the area where oilsands development takes place is home to nearly 90 species at risk, which are already showing less abundance and are expected to decline as approved projects are developed and critical habitat is increasingly disturbed.
It doesn’t need to be this way.
The oilsands sector has an opportunity to reverse this trend, in cooperation and co-ordination with other sectors. And companies that show leadership by taking action through mitigation measures, including conservations offsets, also stand to reap reputational benefits.
This article originally appeared in the January 2015 issue of Oilsands Review.
