In Canada, and many other countries when a resource development project is undertaken it is understood that one day the development will need to be decommissioned and the disturbance repaired. For example, bitumen mines in north-eastern Alberta have mine closure and reclamation plans that are slowly being implemented as different areas of the mines close to return the landscape to something similar to what it once was.
But what is reclamation? There are many words bandied about when we talk about replacing or fixing the environment. Reclamation, remediation, restoration, re-wilding, regeneration, revegetation… the list goes on. In the most general terms possible, I define it as a process of shifting a disturbed area towards some end land use. This could be useful for humans or for nature, or both.
What does it mean for us? Can we run around starting environmentally damaging projects on the assumption that one day it can all be reclaimed?
I hope to bring more awareness to the field of reclamation, what it means, and how it affects the environment and humans.
