The federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, announced Friday that an investment of $8.2 million granted to various partners made it possible to restore the habitat of the chorus frog in different wetlands in Montérégie and in Oh yeah.
These investments from the Canada Nature Fund, granted to Nature-Action Québec and its partners Nature Conservancy of Canada (CNC) and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) since 2022, were used to acquire and protect more than 13 hectares of environments natural sites in Boucherville, La Prairie and Longueuil.
Funding from the Canada Nature Fund also made it possible to protect more than 42 hectares in Outaouais and 39 hectares in Montérégie, according to the Ministry of the Environment.
A sentinel threatened
The Western Chorus Frog breeds in small, often temporary wetlands, which are increasingly threatened by agriculture and urban sprawl.
Although the species is not globally imperiled, the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence population has been listed as threatened since 2010, and current estimates suggest that up to 90% of its habitat has been destroyed over the years. over the last decades.
The amphibian, despite its size of approximately four centimeters when adult, occupies an important role for the ecosystem, because it is an indicator of the pressures that biodiversity is under since it has needs similar to several other species. Thus, protecting the habitat of the chorus frog ensures the protection of several other species.
The tree frog is a sort of sentinel; when it disappears from a wetland, it is often a sign for biologists that the ecosystem is no longer healthy.
In a press release released Friday, Minister Steven Guilbeault indicated that “collaboration is at the heart of conservation and we must work together if we want to ensure the protection and recovery of species at risk such as the chorus frog” and he recalled that his government “is committed to stopping and reversing the loss of biodiversity by 2030, and to placing natural environments on the path to recovery by 2050”.
“The DUC team is proud to have helped save critical habitat for the Western Chorus Frog. When it comes to conservation, every action counts because everything is interconnected. To protect species at risk, we must therefore join forces,” wrote Mélanie Deslongchamps, director of provincial operations for Quebec at Ducks Unlimited Canada.