Grant: College and Community Innovation Program

NAIT has been in the business of providing highly trained forestry, petroleum engineering and other high demand trainees to industry for over 30 years. novaNAIT Boreal Research Institute is a satellite campus of NAIT located 500 km northwest of Edmonton. Our program called Field Technologies for Boreal Reclamation builds upon the Institute's commitment to applied research and technology transfer. Industrial growth is putting pressure on Alberta's boreal forest with a growing backlog of almost 50,000 abandoned oil and gas well sites in forested areas. Land reclamation is the process of restoring industrial sites to a state similar to their original condition. New Alberta reclamation criteria require that these industrial sites be reclaimed using native boreal plants. The novaNAIT Boreal Research Institute contributes forest ecological knowledge through a network of oil and gas companies, reclamation companies, government, First Nations and Métis partners. Small and medium-sized enterprises carry out the majority of reclamation work and bring forward the innovation required to serve their clientele. This program introduces technologies to address the unique requirements of boreal seed supply in northwest Alberta. The program identifies innovative soil management and solutions needed to re-vegetate oil and gas well sites. The program is a forum to develop social and economic ties with aboriginal and Métis communities and incorporate aboriginal ecological knowledge into reclamation practices. NAIT's information technology and forestry expertise is an asset to establish best practices and software applications for field operators in the reclamation industry. Nurseries, reclamation contractors, operators, and aboriginal enterprises will benefit by adopting these new technologies. Advancing reclamation will have a positive impact on the health of the boreal forest and the economic outlook for communities in the Alberta's northwest boreal region.