Sizing the restoration and the reclamation economy in Alberta
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The recovery from the COVID‐19 crisis coincides with a critical opportunity to fight against ecosystem degradation and climate change by investing in the reclamation and restoration (R&R) economy. In this study, we quantify the scope of the R&R economy in the province of Alberta. A survey was distributed among R&R practitioners to quantify jobs, expenditures, and revenues of the R&R economy based on fiscal year 2018-2019. Based on 112 respondents, the survey highlights that the R&R economy in Alberta is robust and supported by a network of multidisciplinary stakeholders and businesses, composed of consultants (42.9%), industry (29.5%), government (8.9%), product and equipment suppliers (5.2%), academia (4.5%), service providers (4.5%), and NGOs (4.5%). Our results totaled 2 056 employees working at least part-time representing 1 488 full time equivalent positions. Business units range in size from one person to 400 employees and have a correspondingly wide range of revenues and expenditures, from less than CAD$50 000 to more than CAD$100 million per year. A high proportion of survey respondents (79.8%) reported an expectation of similar or increasing workload in the near future. While results highlighted reclamation had a higher profile than restoration activities, they do show that the strength of the R&R economy largely reflects, and is a result of, the regulatory framework that exists in resource-rich provinces. The socio-economic benefits of the R&R sector demonstrated in this study put in perspective the need to link regional R&R practitioner’s expertise with national and international environmental commitments on forest landscape restoration. Such linkages will increase the contribution from R&R businesses and practitioners to these commitments and will give decision-makers real life data to invest in this emerging sector as a piece of the broader green economy.
Keywords: Employment, forest, landscape degradation, oil and gas, policy, revenues
ID: 3480925