Co-reclamation key focus of AGM
VANCOUVER, BC (March 1, 2023) — At the annual general meeting of the Landform Design Institute on Feb. 27, guest speaker Christine Daly — who was introduced by LDI Chair Gord McKenna as a new member of the Board of Directors — described the importance of integrating “co-reclamation” into the process of restoring mine landscapes or lands to other uses.
Daly is an award-winning conservation, reclamation, and community-engagement specialist and the principal of Daly Reclamation and Reconnection Inc. She is also a sessional lecturer at the University of Calgary. In partnership with the Fort McKay First Nation in northeastern Alberta, she co-created and explored a participatory and inclusive approach to mine reclamation as part of The Co-reclamation Project.
“It is the local communities that must live with the outcomes of mining activity,” Daly said in her presentation, during which she noted that the Calls to Action of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission ask corporate Canada to apply the principles, norms, and standards of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) to core operational activities involving Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources.
Daly’s work dovetails with the Institute’s mandate, which is to help the burgeoning community of landform design practitioners — many of whom attended the AGM — build truly sustainable mining landscapes. As described in the Institute’s landmark 2021 position paper Mining with the end in mind, the first of its 12 principles of landform design calls for the creation of a “shared vision for the reclaimed land among the mine, Indigenous peoples, and local communities,” in which these parties work together to build relationships, share diverse knowledge, take action, and earn one another’s trust. Daly described this vision as a primary and critical component of effective co-reclamation.
During the virtual AGM, the Institute voted to extend the tenures of its other existing Board members, which includes McKenna of McKenna Geotechnical Inc. (Chair), Mike O’Kane of Okane Consultants, Anne Naeth of the University of Alberta, and independent mine closure specialist Lois Boxill. O’Kane and June Pollard of Teck Resources remain co-chairs of the Institute’s 13-member Technical Advisory Panel.
McKenna described many ongoing initiatives of the Institute, including the “Getting Closure” podcast series, the Landform Design Quarterly newsletter, the hugely successful three-day landform design short course staged in Calgary, Alberta, the lunch-and-learn sessions for corporate members, and the start of work on landform design certificate courses.
As well, Dr. McKenna spoke of a newly-created team working on a how-to guide for creating a design basis memorandum (DBM), which is scheduled for release in the fall of 2023. The team is headed by Adrienne Patterson of Teck Resources and includes several landform design practitioners who are combining their skills to create a first-of-its-kind DBM that will help make landform design routine worldwide in the coming years, fulfilling the primary mission of the Institute.
For more information on the annual general meeting, or on LDI corporate, individual, or student membership, please feel free to contact the administrator, Jasmine Winter, at admin@landformdesign.com, or explore the LDI website at landformdesign.com. You can also contact Chair Gord McKenna directly by email at gord@landformdesign.com for more information on the benefits of membership.