As part of its decree for the protection of the woodland caribou, the federal government plans to withdraw 1.6 million hectares from the forestry industry, including one million hectares in the Pipmuacan sector. This announcement represents a disaster for Boisaco, since 70% of the volume of wood that the company was supposed to harvest this year is located in the areas targeted by the harvest ban.
An emergency order to protect a species at risk has only been issued three times since the creation of the Species at Risk Act. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), imminent threats are significant enough to jeopardize the survival of three herds of woodland caribou in Quebec, which justifies the decision to issue an emergency order to protect the cervid’s habitat, said Marie-Josée Couture, Acting Director General of Regional Operations at ECCC’s Canadian Wildlife Service, during an information session on the subject to detail the proposed measures.
Given that Quebec has still not presented a national strategy for the protection of woodland caribou, ECCC plans to ban forest harvesting on 1.6 million hectares of forest to allow the recovery of three herds of woodland caribou.
More specifically, the ban affects 300,000 hectares of forest to protect the habitat of the Charlevoix and Val-d’Or herds, as well as one million hectares for the Pipmuacan herd.
For the moment, the ministry has not wanted to present its assessment of forestry possibilities, preferring to continue the analysis in order to present more precise data, it was justified.
It is mainly mature forests that are protected, because this is the type of habitat required by the woodland caribou. This measure aims to achieve a maximum disturbance rate of 35% in the range of each local population, Marie-Josée Couture maintained, as stipulated in the species recovery plan produced by the federal government. With such a disturbance rate, a local population would have a 60% chance of becoming self-sufficient.
“The probability of achieving the species recovery objective is already low and will be further compromised if the threats[Editor’s note: logging and intensification of the road network]materialise,” she said.
The proposed emergency decree therefore aims to protect the best habitats for the survival of caribou, while limiting socio-economic impacts, said Cédric Paitre, regulatory affairs manager for Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Some exclusions have therefore been made to maintain certain economic activities. For example, mining activities already authorized will be able to be maintained, as will mining activities for the extraction of critical minerals. The ban also does not affect private and municipal lands.
A disaster for Boisaco
“This decree is a disaster for Boisaco,” says its president Steeve Saint-Gelais.
“For us, 70% of the areas that were supposed to be harvested this year are covered by the decree.” In addition, the areas of protection envisaged cover nearly 40% of the total areas dedicated to forest management in the territory where Boisaco’s historical supplies come from. Looking at the extent of the territories where harvesting will be prohibited, Steeve Saint-Gelais fears for the survival of Boisaco, the economic heart of Sacré-Coeur, as well as the companies of 1D2e and 3e transformations associated with it.
“It is clear that no socio-economic impact study was carried out before presenting these vague data,” he said.
A consultation in progress
The decree is not yet in force, as the consultation process will continue until August 18, 2024. ECCC experts maintain that they are listening to stakeholders in the field to refine the decree in order to minimize negative impacts. “We are not saying that there will be no impact, but our approach aims to strike a balance between protection and socio-economic impacts,” maintains Marie-Josée Couture.
Participants are invited to submit their comments by completing a form on the Species at Risk Public Registry or by emailing [email protected].
Once the decree is ratified, all forest harvesting operations will have to cease in the affected areas, even if the companies had received all the necessary authorizations. The federal government remains open to reaching an agreement with Quebec if a protection strategy is presented by the time the decree is implemented.