Location: NBCC, Moncton Campus
Dates: May 14-15, 2019
Event: 2-day Ecological Restoration Workshop

Save the date for this 2-day workshop and look for details and registration to be announced soon on atlanticclra.ca! Registration will be limited.

NATURAL PROCESSES FOR THE  RESTORATION OF DRASTICALLY DISTURBED SITES

Course Instructor David F. Polster; R.P. Bio.

Natural processes have been restoring natural disturbances since the beginning of time. This full-day workshop will explore how these natural processes can be applied to the restoration of sites that humans have disturbed to greatly reduce the cost of restoration. Traditional reclamation
treatments can be costly and fail to generate the ecological goods and services that were lost during the disturbance of the site. This workshop will look at how disturbed sites can be re-integrated with the natural successional processes that operate to create productive, self-sustaining ecosystems. We will look at common constraints (filters) to recovery – erosion, compaction, low nutrients, lack of propagules, herbivory, etc. and how natural systems solve these problems. We will explore practical methods of applying these solutions to anthropogenic disturbances often at a fraction of the cost of some current reclamation practices. Soil bioengineering techniques for the treatment of steep and/or unstable sites will be presented.

Participants will learn a variety of treatments to control erosion, re-establish vegetation and build soil-forming processes. Specific details are provided to address issues that are commonly found at mines and industrial sites (e.g. compaction, steep slopes, adverse soil texture, toxic materials and lack of organic material). The course will include a brief overview of monitoring and maintenance strategies.

This is a two-day course that will involve one day of in-class instruction at the NBCC Moncton campus.  Day two will involve a field project where the concepts learned on day one will be put into practice.

Who should attend? This course will be of interest to those engaged in restoration planning and implementation for drastically disturbed sites including large mines, decommissioned industrial sites, pipeline, energy and transportation corridors, and other significant disturbances. It will also be of interest to NGO’s involved in watershed or streambank restoration and Regulators and others looking for effective restoration strategies.

Instructor

David F. Polster, R.P. Bio. is a plant ecologist with over 40 years of experience in vegetation studies, reclamation, and invasive species management. He graduated from the University of Victoria with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in 1975 and a Master of Science degree in 1977. He has developed a wide variety of reclamation techniques for mines, industrial developments, and steep/unstable slopes as well as techniques for the re-establishment of riparian and aquatic habitats. He is the past-president (third term) of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association. He is the treasurer for the B.C. Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration and is on the board of the International Society for Ecological Restoration. He served as the alternate mining representative on the board of the Invasive Species Council of B.C. for 9 years.

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CLRA Atlantic Chapter and New Brunswick Community College Presents Ecological Restoration Workshop

  • May 14 - 15, 2019
  • 1234 Mountain Rd
    Moncton, New Brunswick
    Canada
    E1C 8H9