This presentation synthesizes collaborative, student-led projects on ecosystem impacts and reclamation in Sudbury, Ontario. Sudbury is one of the largest global producers of base metals. The region had immense historical smelter pollution and formerly was infamously the largest global point source of sulfur dioxide. Decades of sparse tree cover, a result of atmospheric sulfur and metal pollution, led to severe erosion and degradation of forest soils. However, since the 1970s, pollution controls and the exceptional Sudbury Regreening Program are reclaiming the deforested landscapes, with an increasing focus on restoring native biodiversity and ecosystem services, including the rebuilding of forest carbon stocks. Newer projects are exploring sphagnum restoration in severely impacted peatlands and their vital ecosystem services.  The potential for ecosystem carbon storage in reclaimed industrial landscapes like Sudbury is highlighted and cautiously framed in light of the contentious roles of ecosystem management in global climate change mitigation.