Alberta ecosystems threatened, study finds

Alberta’s ecosystems and the natural beauty they create are still largely intact but parts are disappearing at rates that exceed deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

“We continue to lose ecosystems,” said researcher Jahan Kariyeva. “That we can definitely see.”

Kariyeva, a University of Alberta geographer, is lead author on the latest report from the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, an arm’s-length research body overseen by industry, government and non-governmental organizations.

Its most complete study on the human footprint across Alberta has found that 70 per cent of the province is still untouched. Most of that is in the north.

At the turn of the century, just over one-quarter of Alberta was disturbed by agriculture, communities, forestry, energy and other developments. Now, the total is almost 30 per cent.

That’s an area equal to 3½ times the size of Banff National Park. Most of that disturbance comes from logging.

Changes are coming most quickly in the foothills, a vast area along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains subject to pressures from forestry, energy, residential development and recreation.

The study says disturbance in the foothills has gone from less than one-fifth in 1999 to 29 per cent in 2015, most from forestry. That’s about a 60-per-cent increase in disturbance — almost twice the rate in the Amazon over the same time span.

In Alberta’s oilsands, developed land has increased by 75 per cent. The report points out that’s still only 8.4 per cent of the entire forest ecosystem in the area.

Kariyeva said the study should help politicians and land-use planners make better decisions.