Discover Canada's devastating oil sands
In 2007, WWF-UK's Alex Hartridge took four journalists and photographer Jiri Rezac to Canada to witness the human and ecological impact of the world's latest oil boom – Alberta's oil sands.
They flew over the mined area, a region about the size of Florida that looks like the aftermath of a meteor impact. There are known reserves of 174 billion barrels of oil in these sands – a volume exceeded only by Saudi reserves.
On their journey, the group met local and indigenous people living downstream from the oil sands development and heard their stories of frustration and fear. Waters are now polluted, traditional livelihoods lost and rates of unusual cancers have increased.
The oil beneath Alberta's ancient forests was once considered too expensive and difficult to extract. But in their desperation for fuel, oil giants have resorted to these 'unconventional' oil supplies, the production of which generates three times the level of greenhouse gas as conventional oil. WWF is calling for a freeze on further oil sands developments.