Creating a national park to protect the Tadoussac dunes area is a good idea, says the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE). But the Legault government, which promised this new park during the election campaign, will have to review its project to make it more acceptable to the village’s residents.
The proposed territory of the Dunes-de-Tadoussac National Park, located east of the village of Tadoussac, on the Côte-Nord, has an area of approximately 6.5 km2It would serve to protect an “exceptional landscape”, but also historical remains and “an ornithological site of international renown”.
The government would also like to set up a campsite there and develop the area to facilitate access to the shoreline located at the bottom of the marine terraces which offer a view of the St. Lawrence estuary.
In a report published Friday, the BAPE concluded that the creation of a new Quebec national park is the best option, particularly “because of the public tenure of the land and the guarantee of sustainability that it provides.” Protecting this territory would also make it possible to better regulate the “high tourist traffic” in this sector.
The development and construction phase of the facilities would be spread over three years, for an investment budget of nearly $50 million, and would allow the creation of 171 direct jobs. The operating phase is planned from May to September, starting in 2029. The Société des établissements de plein air du Québec would then create 28 seasonal jobs.
“Review” the project
The commission, which conducted public consultations in Tadoussac, nevertheless notes the need to “review” the project “to seek greater acceptance” from Tadoussac residents. The BAPE recommends in particular revising the size and location of the planned campsite, but also providing free access to the park for local residents, who already regularly frequent the dunes area.
As part of the consultations, the BAPE commissioners note, participants expressed the wish that “local cultures and traditions such as the picking of clams and plants, access to the territory with a dog and free movement on horseback, motorcycle and off-road vehicles” be protected. And “several also wonder whether the status of national park is the most appropriate for the dune sector.”
The formation of these dunes, located on public lands, dates back more than 10,000 years, during the last ice age. A huge glacier, the same one that created the Saguenay Fjord, began to melt. The waters released caused a deposit of sediments that the glacier had left in its wake. The earth’s crust then gradually straightened, causing the sea to retreat. This process took place in several phases, which explains the two distinct plateaus that we see today, which make up these marine terraces.
The idea of protecting this territory has been raised several times since 1983, during the creation of Saguenay Park, now called Saguenay Fjord National Park.
The Legault government has committed to protecting 30% of Quebec’s natural environments by 2030. According to official data, approximately 17% of Quebec’s natural land area is currently protected, or approximately 257,000 km2. As for marine environments, we are talking about around 10%, with a little over 16,000 km2.
This means that Quebec will have to add more than 200,000 km2 of protected land areas by the end of the decade, but also at least 30,000 km2 of protected marine territories. Quebec is currently working on expanding the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, in order to quadruple the area of the province’s only marine park. Consultations are planned for this fall.