Laval intends to multiply by twenty the area of the Rivière-des-Mille-Îles wildlife refuge, with the addition of 568 hectares of municipal land that will benefit from a protection status recognized by Quebec.
During the election campaign, the mayor, Stéphane Boyer, pledged to expand the wildlife refuge created in 1998, which covers 26 hectares and includes ten islands belonging to the cities of Laval and Rosemère as well as to the non-profit organization Eco-Nature. According to the City, the site will become one of the largest urban wildlife refuges in Quebec.
“It’s a great project, which was close to my heart, and I’m happy that we can deliver it fairly quickly after the election. It’s something that will remain in place for generations to come,” said Stéphane Boyer in an interview with Duty.
The 432 lots that will expand the refuge are municipal properties. This number includes the Vaches and Saint-Pierre islands, which the City of Laval had acquired in October 2020 for $21.9 million with the contribution of the Government of Quebec following a long saga. The project also includes Locas Island, which the City should complete the acquisition shortly. These three islands alone represent 166 hectares.
The islands and land that will form the wildlife sanctuary are scattered along the Mille-Îles River and are not all interconnected. Mayor Boyer does not, however, rule out the possibility of increasing the area of protected areas in the coming years. “If there are other acquisitions — there are others, I’m sure — that won’t stop us from annexing them to the refuge,” he says.
The Éco-Nature organization, which already manages the Rivière-des-Mille-Îles park, has been working on the expansion project since 2009, and it is this organization that will manage the wildlife refuge.
The protection status, which aims to protect biodiversity, allows recreational tourism development. Once the green light from the government has been obtained for the expansion of the refuge, the City will have to adopt a regulation to determine which activities may be permitted there, indicates Stéphane Boyer. The City will have the possibility of developing trails. It may, for example, authorize camping on an island or, on the contrary, prohibit it.
As the land already belongs to the municipality, the expansion of the wildlife refuge does not represent significant additional investments for the City, according to Mr. Boyer.
The executive committee approved the expansion project on Wednesday and the municipal council will be called upon to decide on the file next Tuesday. It will however remain with the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks to give its approval to the project.
According to Ville de Laval, 350 animal species have been listed on the territory concerned, of which 92 are species designated or likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable, including the milk snake, the peregrine falcon, the map turtle and the least bittern. .
As for Île Saint-Joseph, which Laval had tried to buy at the same time as Île aux Vaches and Île Saint-Pierre a few years ago, a dispute remains between the City and the owner, Luigi Liberatore, who wants to do real estate development. Stéphane Boyer did not want to comment on the file. “But it is certain that there may be talks between the City and the developer in the coming months,” he limited himself to saying.