Alberta Oil Sands Region Focal Area Program

Alberta Oil Sands Region Focal Area Program

To better understand the direct impact of various oil sands industry activities on mammals and birds, the ABMI designed a monitoring program focussed on the in-situ region of the Oil Sands Region (OSR). Broadly speaking, the design involves two treatment grids with high levels of in-situ development and two reference grids, where there’s little-to-no human footprint due to oil sands industry activity. In each grid, high density arrays of remote cameras and autonomous recording units were deployed at distances appropriate to mammals and birds, respectively. 2019 was the program’s first field season--initial data and analyses is expected to be available in 2021.