Oil Sands Regions:
TOTAL AREA:
4,890 km2
TOTAL Human Footprint:
1,292 km2
Region Overview
The Mineable Oil Sands Region (Mineable Region) as defined by the Government of Alberta is an area located north of Fort McMurray covering approximately 4,800 km2 where surface mining of oil sands occurs. This region contains 20% of the Athabasca Oil Sand Area’s bitumen deposits. Surface mining is the most recognizable form of bitumen extraction; large shovels are used to excavate the oil sands deposits located close to the earth’s surface. In areas where surface mining has occurred, reclaiming the area that has been stripped of soil, wetlands, forests, and all associated biodiversity poses many challenges. Human footprint status is summarized for the Mineable Region.
Status
As of 2021, human footprint occupied 27.3% of the Mineable Region. Energy footprint was the dominant human footprint, covering 20.3% of the region, followed by forestry footprint, which covered 4.1%. Transportation and urban/industrial footprint covered 1.3% and 1.1% of the region, respectively. The remaining footprints each covered less than 0.1 percentage point.
| Human Footprint Type | Area (km2) | Area (%) |
|---|
Figure: Status of Human Footprint. Summary of percentage cover of total human footprint broken down by human footprint category in the Mineable Region, circa 2021.
Trend
- Between 2000 and 2021, the total area of human footprint in the Mineable Region increased by 14.7 percentage points, from 12.6% to 27.3%.
- This increase in human footprint was mostly driven by the expansion of energy and forestry footprints, which increased from 11.6% to 20.3% and 1.5% to 4.1%, respectively.
- The increases in percent area of the Mineable Region covered by the other human footprint categories were all small: human-created water bodies (0.4%), transportation (0.9%), and urban/industrial (1.1%).
| Human Footprint Type | 2000 (km2) | 2021 (km2) | Change (km2) |
|---|
| Human Footprint Type | 2000 (%) | 2021 (%) | Change (%) |
|---|
Figure: Trend in Human Footprint. Trend in the percentage area of total human footprint, and by human footprint category in the Mineable Region between 2000 and 2021. Click on the entries in the legend to turn human footprint categories on and off.
Status of Linear Human Footprint
- In the Mineable Region, density of linear features was 2.8 km/km2.
- Conventional seismic lines were the predominant line type, representing 82.1% of the total length of all lines, with a density of 2.3 km/km2.
- Pipelines and roads combined represent 14.3% of linear footprint in the Mineable Region, with densities of 0.1 km/km2 and 0.3 km/km2, respectively.
- Transmission lines and railways had very low densities in the Mineable Region.
| Type | Density (km/km2) |
|---|
Figure: Status of Linear Human Footprint. Density (km/km2) of linear features in the Mineable Region, circa 2021, overall and broken down by linear feature type. Hover over bar or legend to view density of specific linear feature type. Please note low impact seismic lines are not included in the summary of linear footprint density.