Article

Land use and biodiversity

Article

Imperial operates in a variety of ecosystems, some with sensitive characteristics. We strive to mitigate potential impacts to ecosystems and the value those ecosystems provide, working to conserve and
restore land and biodiversity through progressive reclamation and habitat restoration.

We carefully consider land use and biodiversity in all aspects of our operations, from new development planning to ongoing operations and reclamation. At the board level, the Safety and Sustainability Committee oversees the policies and practices that manage environmental risks, including land use and biodiversity.

We regularly conduct comprehensive environmental risk assessments that consider all aspects of the environment in which we operate, including biodiversity. These risk assessments are a central component of our environmental business planning process.

Through these processes, we consider factors such as avoiding and minimizing our footprint in sensitive environments, the rarity of individual species — their vulnerabilities and cultural significance, and areas of importance to Indigenous communities. We also work with Indigenous communities in the areas in which we operate to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into our project plans.

In areas of high biodiversity, we follow a mitigation hierarchy,10 a best-practice decision-making process that helps us avoid, minimize, restore and, in cases of disturbance to fisheries habitat, offset impacts. Currently, none of Imperial’s operating sites are located near protected areas.

Strategic collaboration

In 2022, Imperial’s Land Use and Biodiversity Lead, Lori Neufeld, participated in multiple collaborative biodiversity efforts including the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity(COP 15), as part of Canada’s delegation.

At COP 15, alongside other members of the National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium, Lori showcased the collaborative work Imperial has done to support the recovery of boreal caribou populations, including our role in the formation of the Kitaskino Nuwenëné Wildland Park, an initiative led by Mikisew Cree First Nations.

Imperial contributed an oil sands lease to support the creation of the park, which supports the ecological integrity of Wood Buffalo National Park and promotes the long‑term stewardship of areas and resources.

Lori was also appointed to Canada’s Nature AdvisoryCommittee (NAC), a group that provides strategic advice and innovative solutions to Environment and Climate Change Canada as the department develops Canada’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for 2030.

The NAC is comprised of experts with scientific, technical or traditional knowledge in wildlife management, area-based conservation, ecosystem services, Indigenous conservation, sustainable natural resource industry practices, and nature-based climate solutions.

Wildlife monitoring partnerships

Imperial supports land management programs that enhance wildlife habitats and provide community outreach and education programs. Cold Lake and Kearl have wildlife habitat management programs, certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council in recognition of our efforts that go above and beyond regulatory requirements.

We are also a member of the Regional Industry Caribou Collaborative (RICC) where members are focused collectively on conserving caribou and restoring habitat and we work closely with the Pathways Alliance to share restoration and reclamation best practices and reduce impacts to wildlife.

Imperial is a member of the Boreal Ecosystem Recovery and Assessment (BERA) 11 project, a multi-sectoral research partnership of academic institutions and private-sector companies. BERA’s central goal is to understand the effects of industrial disturbance on natural ecosystem dynamics and to develop strategies for restoring disturbed landscapes.

Imperial also participates in the Early Successional Wildlife Dynamics Program, a joint industry program in the Athabasca region that assesses wildlife recovery in reclaimed areas to help determine the effectiveness of reclamation efforts in supporting biodiversity.

Through the program we collect wildlife monitoring data at our Kearl site related to the return and reestablishment of wildlife in reclaimed areas, including terrestrial and water body vegetation productivity ofwetlands and compensation lakes. Data is gatheredusing wildlife cameras, automatic recording units,nest surveys and small-mammal trapping.

Birds

Imperial is dedicated to migratory bird protection, and we are working to prevent birds from landing on surface water bodies in higher-risk areas of our operations. To prevent disturbance to bird nests, before we begin any field activities, we survey the area and, if necessary, implement buffer zones.

Deterring birds from landing at our sites can be a challenge due to migration patterns, characteristics of the process-affected surface water bodies in our operations, and the natural habitats that surround our sites.

Effective bird deterrent programs avoid bird habituation by utilizing a broad range of techniques. The Kearl Bird Detection and Deterrent System is a comprehensive program that uses active and passive devices for deterrence including acoustical devices, eye-safe lasers, noise cannons, predator kites and effigies and drones. We also use human monitors to perform surveys and inform the bird deterrent team.

In 2022, we continued to use RoBird®, a robotic falcon operated by pilots specialized in wildlife mitigation. We have also linked almost all of our noise cannons in high‑risk areas to a radar system, so they fire on demand when birds are detected, producing sound that deters birds from the area. This improves the effectiveness of the cannons because they are less predictable and therefore more effective.

At our Strathcona refinery, bird balls, softball-sized black plastic spheres that float on process water ponds, present a dark, non-reflective surface effectively camouflaging the water from passing birds. Ongoing visual inspections of the ponds by operations and environmental personnel confirm the balls are an effective means of protecting migratory birds.

Caribou

Our sector has a critical role to play conserving and returning biodiversity to the landscape, especially when it comes to caribou. Boreal caribou are listed as threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act and Imperial’s goal is to reduce our current and future footprint in caribou range.

Since 2019, we have been involved in task forces for the Cold Lake and Wandering River sub-regions, working collaboratively with the Government of Alberta and other key stakeholders to develop recommendations on sub-regional planning. These plans are an important step in Alberta’s commitment to support caribou recovery and consider a broad range of interests and land-use activities.

Since the release of the Cold Lake sub-regional plan Imperial has commenced initial work on developing a restoration plan for the portion of our Cold Lake lease that overlaps with the Cold Lake caribou range with the goal of accelerating caribou habitat recovery.

In June 2022, the Government of Alberta kicked off sub-regional planning for the Wandering River region and established eight working groups. Imperial is working collaboratively with government and industry stakeholders in the oil sands/petroleum natural gas working group. The government is targeting the finalization of this sub-regional plan by early 2024.

Sub-regional caribou range planning is an important step in Alberta’s commitment to support caribou recovery in Canada and Imperial is committed to collaborating in the development of Alberta’s caribou range plans.

Imperial continues to use a four-pronged approach to support caribou recovery:

Restoration through participation in regional habitat restoration projects
Tenure flexibility to enable orderly development and reduce overall industry footprint
Lease relinquishment in caribou ranges for conservation where appropriate
Innovation in science-based caribou research through participation in COSIA, the Regional Industry Caribou Collaborative and National Boreal Caribou Knowledge Consortium

As an industry, we use geophysical surveys (i.e.: seismic) to better understand the subsurface geology that informs our developments. Conventional methods require vegetation clearing in environments which are important for boreal caribou.

Imperial, as part of a joint-industry project, continues to test EcoSeis, an innovative seismic methodology developed by OptiSeis Solutions Ltd that has the potential to greatly reduce footprint from seismic activity.

The work to develop this methodology has been widely recognized, with funding from the Clean Resource Innovation Network and as a finalist for COSIA’s Land Challenge Competition, a competition for seismic technologies that aim to reduce environmental impacts of oil sands exploration.