Incorporating Climate Change into Land Reclamation

Summary

Climate change might affect the performance of land restoration programs. Efforts are underway in Alberta to enhance the ability of land reclamation planning tools to take account of climate change impacts and support adaptation decision-making. The project led by the Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA) and researchers addresses the need to increase understanding regarding how businesses and organizations manage risk and adapt to current and predicted climate conditions. Documenting and sharing information about these practices may help to promote the use of same measures, tools, and information, increasing then the consistency among operators and providing a means of assessing current best management practices. The FORECAST Climate model was also suggested to project vegetation development for a given reclaimed Land Unit subject to present an alternative management option

Key take-aways

• Documenting and sharing information about these practices will help promote the use of the same measures, tools, and information.
• A regionally appropriate tool may improve consistency among operators and provide a means of assessing current best management practices.