Business Risk Assessment of Species at risk in the OSR

Project objective: To develop a method to identify the next “caribou” – i.e. the species most vulnerable for population declines and which will potentially pose a significant business risk in the Oil Sands Region (OSR). This assessment will lead to a prioritized list of Species at Risk (SAR) in the OSR and identify the factors that contribute the most to the risk profile for each higher-risk SAR. The assessment will involve developing a method to evaluate business risks, consolidating ecological and other relevant data required to complete the assessment, development of a seriatim of SAR and a report on the factors that contribute the most to higher-risk species.

A two-module business risk assessment framework was developed to identify priority SAR that could have a significant effect on oil sands operations. The Ecological Risk Module identified 230 SAR in the OSR and then used ecological-risk profile factors to filter out 16 species to further evaluate for potential business risks. The Business Risk Module ranked these 16 species, taking into account interaction risk, compliance requirements, social license, operation requirements, media influence on public image, land and resource access and financial resources. Wood Bison ranked highest – with a historical range and potential for reintroduction in the OSR, government may look to the oil sands industry for recovery support. Potential media coverage and fines for Whooping Cranes contacting tailing ponds/process affected water made them second ranking, and the Canada Warbler, Western Toad and Wolverine were next, with scores based on compliance requirements to understand ecology, prevent habitat loss and fragmentation and unintended mortality; recovery strategies for these species included habitat use data collection. The remaining species do not have primary threats that interact with oil sands activities.