Biodiversity

Sandhill cranes are one of the species that live near our operations in the Horn River Basin in B.C.

Protecting Wildlife & Healthy Ecosystems

Many of our operations are in remote locations, where our nearest neighbours are wildlife. Here are some examples of the work we undertake to protect wildlife and help maintain a healthy ecosystem:

• Implement specialized mapping programs to maintain appropriate distances from our operations to wildlife corridors. This mapping is specifically targeted at helping to reduce our impact on caribou (which live near our operations in northeastern British Columbia and northern Alberta) and burrowing owls and ferruginous hawks (which live near our Medicine Hat, Alberta operations).
• Reduce our impact to migratory birds by implementing bird deterrent devices to discourage their presence in areas where they may be harmed.
• Work with a number of other stakeholders and industry partners to balance industrial activities with the conservation of caribou and their habitat in northern Alberta through a multi-million-dollar caribou research program to better understand how to mitigate impacts on this species.
• Support grizzly bear research through the Foothills Research Institute Grizzly Bear Program. We not only contribute funds, but use research results to make key operational decisions such as avoiding the building of roads through high-density grizzly bear populations.
• Implement an invasive species program to control non-indigenous or ‘alien’ species that threaten landscape by edging out indigenous species. In our land-based developments this refers to certain types of weeds, while in our marine operations this includes non-indigenous mussels, fish and jellyfish.
• Participate in the biodiversity working group of IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues.
• Contribute to the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute which collects valuable monitoring data on more than 2,000 species and habitats in the province.
• Participate in the SERPENT project in the UK North Sea, which uses remote operated vehicles to assess the impact of oil-producing platforms on marine life.
• Support a five-year cumulative environmental effects monitoring study in Medicine Hat with respect to shallow gas drilling and production activities.
• Collaborate with other members of the Horn River Basin Producers Group to monitor wildlife in the region.
• Support the Nigerian Montane Forest Project, a biodiversity and conservation research project for post-graduate students.