In a few weeks, the eyes of the whole world will be on Montreal, which will host the UN conference on biodiversity (COP15). Expectations are high for this major meeting of the international community. While the warning signs on the collapse of biodiversity are red everywhere in the world, the time is no longer for speeches, but for action. Strong gestures are needed to quickly reverse the trend.
Posted at 1:00 p.m.
In this context of urgent action, the Government of Canada has the opportunity to make a big difference by ensuring the protection of the land it owns near the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport and by collaborating with the community. community to define and materialize the vision of the future for this large green space.
The land concerned has been the subject of special attention for several years now. In 2021, an industrial development project in the northern part reminded us that, although currently green, it is the industrial vocation that predominates in the planning documents of Aéroports de Montréal, the organization responsible for their administration. Last summer, it was the mowing of a field of milkweed that aroused fears and put the spotlight back on the future of the sector.
Unanimity at the metropolitan scale
Montreal organizations (Green Coalition, Technoparc Oiseaux, CRE-Montréal) are stepping up their efforts to ensure the protection of green spaces located near the Parc-nature des Sources project. They have been joined in recent weeks by the municipalities of the island of Montreal, while some fifteen boroughs and related cities, as well as the Montreal agglomeration council, have adopted resolutions calling for the collaboration of the Government of Canada to preserve and protect federal lands. Very recently, the Montreal Metropolitan Community added Golf Dorval to its Interim Control By-law concerning sectors with potential for conversion into green space or natural environment.
In short, the enthusiasm is greater than ever, both locally and metropolitanly.
Nature as an essential solution
This mobilization is taking place while scientific reports on the urgency of increasing the resilience of our living environments are multiplying, each time recalling the essential role of nature and green infrastructure in adapting to climate change.
Over the past few weeks, several studies (Intact Center on Climate Adaptation1Union of Quebec Municipalities2) highlighted the cost of inaction for municipalities when it comes to adaptation. This cost is often much higher than that of concrete measures, in particular the installation of green and blue infrastructures and their multitude of ecosystem services: filtration of water, air and soil pollution, improvement of the permeability of soils, reduction of urban heat islands.
The large park project is a great opportunity to create a diversified environment made up of complementary ecosystems and to consolidate ecological connectivity between natural environments and green spaces, the only solution to strengthen resilience and biodiversity in very fragmented environments.
Make the dream a reality
In its official documents, the Government of Canada affirms its desire to create new urban parks and improve access to nature for the entire population. The pandemic has shed light on the lack of access to nature in urban settings, but also the positive impact of regular contact with nature for mental health. The upcoming launch of the REM de l’Ouest will provide a quick and easy link by public transit to a nature center of more than 100 hectares. It will improve access to nature for a large number of workers in neighboring employment sectors, for all residents of the metropolitan area and for tourists visiting Montreal.
As we can see, rarely has such a perfect alignment been observed in the metropolitan region in terms of protecting a green space of such an area. It is up to the Government of Canada, in collaboration with the various stakeholders, to make this dream a reality and thus demonstrate its leadership in favor of biodiversity in the urban environment and in the adaptation to climate change.