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Getting Started

How to Navigate the Report

There are two ways to navigate this report described below. If you are interested in the full report, we encourage you to start from the beginning with Chapter 1: Introduction and simply use the "turn the page" function.

Table of Contents

The Table of Contents is accessed through the "hamburger menu" icon located in the bookmark on the left-hand side of each page. This report is broken down into seven chapters, plus the Executive Summary and Conclusion. From this menu, you can easily navigate to any Chapter/subsection/page in the report, or return to the home page.

An abbreviated version of the Table of Contents is also accessible in the footer, at the bottom of each page.

The arrows at the bottom left-hand of your screen will sequentially take you through the report, page by page. For example, press the right arrow to move from Section 1.1 to Section 1.2. The forward arrow (>) allows you to turn to the next page while the back arrow (<) allows you to return to the previous page.

Information Guide

This icon can be found in the middle of the bookmark located on the left-hand side of each page in this report. It provides the information above on how to navigate through the content. You can access this guide anytime without leaving the current page you’re visiting.

Photo: Stephan Pietzko

Section 1.1

Introduction

Five Year Status Update

The report describes the status of human footprint, species, and habitat in the Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. Forest Management Agreement area located in northeastern Alberta.

This report is the five-year update on the status of land cover and biodiversity in the Al-Pac FMA area, and the third status report completed for this management area.

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Introduction

Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Ltd. (Al-Pac) requested the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) to undertake a biodiversity study of their Forest Management Agreement (FMA) area and a larger Area of Ecological Influence (AEI). The purpose of this report is to assess the status of biodiversity and land cover indicators in the FMA area and surrounding AEI.

Monitoring biodiversity is an important part of Al-Pac’s responsible forest management strategy to evaluate the effectiveness of management actions and continually improve results. The ABMI is part of Alberta’s monitoring systems. We measure the health of biodiversity and changes in human land use (i.e., human footprint) in Alberta, including the Al-Pac FMA area. Our biodiversity data and human footprint data are designed to assess whether forest management activities are meeting their goal of maintaining species in the presence of other land-use activities, such as energy development in the boreal forest.

This report is the five-year update on the status of land cover and biodiversity in the Al-Pac FMA area. Building on the first biodiversity status report released in 2009[1], and the update released in 2015[2], the Al-Pac FMA area is the first administrative unit in the province to have available a series of five-year biodiversity status updates.

In this report we summarize the status of a suite of indicators for environmental health in the Al-Pac FMA area, including:

  • Status and trend of human footprint, which accounts for recovery of forestry footprint. The summary of human footprint also includes a summary of linear footprint density.
  • Status of interior native vegetation (i.e., interior native habitat).
  • Status of species, highlighting results for those species that are associated with old deciduous and mixedwood forest, as well as an assessment of the effects of different industrial sectors (sector effects) on species.
  • Assessment of non-native species, culturally important species, and federally or provincially designated species at risk. 
  • Summary of habitat elements including trees, snags, and fallen logs.
  • Spotlights on research conducted in and around the Al-Pac FMA area examining recovery of harvest areas using geospatial technology, and impacts of forestry and other disturbances on Woodland Caribou and Canada Warbler.

Information from this report can be used as a foundation for evaluating the sustainability of forest management practices that are designed to maintain biodiversity in the Al-Pac FMA area.

Principle 6: Environmental Values and Impacts | Principle 8: Monitoring and Assessment | Principle 9: High Conservation Values

ABMI data and reporting broadly support FSC® Indicators 6.1.1 and 6.1.5 by providing ‘best available information’— specifically, up-to-date, scientifically credible monitoring data that can be used to assess the status of local and regional environmental values and track changes in those indicators within the FMA area and in the AEI.

Information that can be found in this report includes:

Forestry Footprint
Photo: ABMI

Interior Native Habitat
Photo: Nina Veselka

Biodiversity Intactness
Photo: Ashley Hillman

Habitat Elements
Photo: ABMI

Research Spotlights
Photo: ABMI
 

References

1.

Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. 2009. The Status of Biodiversity in the Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. Forest Management Agreement Area: Preliminary Assessment. Available at: www.abmi.ca.

2.

Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. 2015. The Status of Biodiversity in the Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc. Forest Management Agreement Area: 5-Year Update. Available at: www.abmi.ca.

Northern Gooseberry is a culturally important species tracked in the Al-Pac FMA area.
Photo: Wayne Lynch

Effective Human Footprint

Effective Forestry Footprint

ACIMS

This report is in partnership with