Athabasca Heartland

The Opportunity:

The Athabasca Heartland …
• Is one of Alberta’s last strongholds of ecological integrity
• Is home to threatened species, including whooping cranes, woodland caribou and wolverine
• Contains Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the adjacent Caribou Mountain Wildland Park, which together represent one of the largest protected areas in the world!
• Is crossed by the Athabasca River, considered one of the most diverse and productive river valley systems in Canada's mixedwood boreal forest
• Is mostly roadless and much remains unallocated to industry

Where is it?

The Athabasca Heartland (192,000 km2) is centered around Wood Buffalo National Park in northeastern Alberta.

What CPAWS Northern Alberta is doing:

The goal of CPAWS Northern Alberta is to establish the Athabasca Heartland as a world-class conservation area characterized by:
• a suite of interconnected protected areas, and
• industrial practices that maintain forest integrity and connectivity among reserves in the remaining landscape.

In particular we want the Alberta government to:
• Commit to protecting at least 50% of the Athabasca Heartland from development, and institute strict rules for industry on the remaining portions
• Issue no new industrial leases of land within the Athabasca Heartland until the protected areas are established
• Expand the Gypsy Gordon and Athabasca Rapids Provincial Protected Area sites by the end of 2008 as the first step in establishing new protected areas within the Athabasca Heartland

Take action!

The Athabasca Heartland is truly a world-class conservation opportunity. Will you help us save the largest remaining wild forest in Alberta?

1) Write to the Premier of Alberta and indicate that you support 40% protected areas in north-eastern Alberta as recommended by the Sustainable Ecosystems Working Group (SEWG).

2) Sign the petition at www.nonewapprovals.ca : Add your name to the growing list of individuals and organizations that are calling, with one voice, for Alberta to take the first step for a cessation of new oil sands approvals and lease sales. The time is now to stop the uncontrolled oil sands development and deal with the environmental and social concerns that it has created in the Athabasca Heartland.

3) Donate: CPAWS needs your financial support to continue this vital conservation work.

We all have a role to play in saving Alberta’s Boreal Wilderness.

IN DEPTH

Athabasca Heartland: A world class conservation opportunity

The Athabasca Heartland is one of Alberta’s greatest, but little known, natural treasures. It is a place where nature still prevails, and wolves and caribou still roam freely. Fire, water, and ice still shape the land and speak of the history of this special place. Species that are in decline in other parts of Alberta where wilderness has been lost are still found here in abundance. Sadly, without your help, we will soon lose this special place as well.

Alberta is under massive developmental pressure from the oil and gas industry and forestry operations. Large areas of the boreal forest in Alberta have already been severely impacted. The Athabasca Heartland (200,000 km2), centered around Wood Buffalo National Park in north-eastern Alberta, contains some of the last true wilderness in the province (Fig 1).

The Opportunity:

• Much of the Athabasca Heartland remains unallocated to industry and progressive companies dominate the parts that are allocated (but this is changing quickly!).

• The area has no significant mineral or hydro-electric potential.

• Petroleum deposits are only present in the southern half of the region.

• The largest forestry company in the Heartland, Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries (Al-Pac), has committed to establishing new protected areas within its management area and is implementing state-of-the-art forestry practices.

• Suncor Energy, a dominant petroleum company in the region, is a signatory to the Canadian Boreal Conservation Framework and is committed to the establishment of new protected areas in the boreal.

• Finally, much of the Heartland is roadless and already contains Wood Buffalo National Park and the Caribou Mountains Wildland Park.

What CPAWS Northern Alberta is doing:

Achieving our full vision for the Athabasca Heartland requires an extended campaign focused on three objectives.

1.Establish additional large legislated protected areas in the region, focusing on ecosystems that are insufficiently represented in existing parks.

2.Ensure that major forestry companies in the region implement state-of-the-art practices and a meaningful old-growth conservation strategy by becoming certified to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards.

3.Establish a cap on linear disturbances across the entire region (applicable to roads, seismic lines, and pipelines) designed to maintain the ecological integrity of the region.

In particular we want the government to:
• Commit to protecting at least 40% of the Athabasca Heartland from development, and institute strict rules for industry on the remaining portions
• Issue no new industrial leases of land within the Athabasca Heartland until the protected areas are established
• Expand the Gypsy Gordon and Athabasca Rapids Provincial Protected Area sites by the end of 2008 as the first step in establishing new protected areas within the Athabasca Heartland

Candidate protected areas (Athabasca Rapids - 1700 km2 and Gipsy-Gordon - 3300 km2) near Fort McMurray in relation to a) intact forest (green and b) petroleum leases (light purple and red)

Key wins for the Athabasca Heartland:

1) 2003-2005: In the initial planning phase of the Athabasca Heartland campaign CPAWS worked with Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries (Al-Pac) and WWF Canada to identify priority areas for protection, based on ecological principles. Two tangible outcomes were achieved:
i.a map of priority areas for protection based on a comprehensive conservation value assessment was produced, and
ii.Al-Pac engaged in outreach efforts to government and other industry players in support of the protected area agenda (albeit for smaller sites than we had proposed).

2) 2005-2007: In the second phase of the campaign we focused on the oil and gas sector. We began with a white paper describing a ‘triad’ approach for the region (i.e., protected areas, zones of intensive industry, and zones of extensive management). Also, in collaboration with the Pembina Institute and other groups, we helped to augment growing public concern over the environmental damage that development of the oil sands was causing (see report: Death by a thousand cuts). During this phase of the campaign two tangible outcomes were achieved:
i.public concern over the environmental costs of oil sands development became high enough to prompt industry and government to seek solutions (e.g., evidenced by the government’s initiation of a large public consultation on the oil sands),
ii.industry and government became aware of the triad as a potential solution

3) 2007-ongoing: We are now in the phase of the campaign that is aimed at achieving legislated protection through the regional land management plan now being developed by the Alberta government. The groundwork for this plan has been laid by the Sustainable Ecosystems Working Group (SEWG) of the Cumulative Environmental Management Association — a multi-stakeholder group we are involved in that includes representatives from the departments of Energy, Sustainable Resource Development, and Environment. The draft SEWG management plan, developed by group consensus, is structured around the triad concept and includes a permanent protected area target of between 20-40% of the region. The spatial layout of the protected areas under consideration is based on the original design we developed with Al-Pac and WWF. The SEWG plan will be finalized by April, 2008. The government has indicated that it will use this plan as the basis for the regional management plan it intends to release by the end of 2008.

New CPAWS/Pembina Institute report "Death by a Thousand Cuts" released on the impacts of in-situ oil sands development on Alberta's Boreal Forest.

Download the report: low resolution (4 MB); print resolution (19 MB)
Download the factsheet (600 kb).
View the interactive video.

Take action!

The Athabasca Heartland is truly a world-class conservation opportunity. Will you help us save the largest remaining wild forest in Alberta?

1) Write to the Premier of Alberta and indicate that you support 40% protected areas in north-eastern Alberta as recommended by the Sustainable Ecosystems Working Group (SEWG).

2) Sign the petition at www.nonewapprovals.ca : Add your name to the growing list of individuals and organizations that are calling, with one voice, for Alberta to take the first step for a cessation of new oil sands approvals and lease sales. The time is now to stop the uncontrolled oil sands development and deal with the environmental and social concerns that it has created in the Athabasca Heartland.

3) Donate: CPAWS needs your financial support to continue this vital conservation work.

We all have a role to play in saving Alberta’s Boreal Wilderness.

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