One year after the world conference on biodiversity in Montreal, dangers persist for threatened species. The duty presents five issues to watch in the province.
A “strategy” for caribou
After years of postponements marked by the worrying decline of several herds of forest caribou, the Legault government promises to present, before the end of 2023, a “strategy” aimed at preventing the disappearance of the species. The presentation was postponed for a few months due to the fires that struck Quebec’s forests. But these fires spared most of the 35,000 km2 of priority territories to protect to stop the decline of deer, according to an analysis by the Society for Nature and Parks of Quebec.
Earlier this year, Innu nations severely criticized the Legault government, accused of preparing a real “extinction strategy” for the woodland caribou. “We are still waiting for the strategy by the end of the year,” indicates the office of the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault. The latter had raised the possibility of imposing the protection of essential habitats for the species by decree if Quebec did not act.
The Northvolt factory
Even if the Quebec Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, believes that the land of the future Northvolt factory is first and foremost an “industrial site”, the scientific data instead shows the richness of the biodiversity which will be destroyed for the realization of the industrial project. We find there no less than 74 backgrounds wetlands, 62 of which are important for the “conservation of biological diversity”, according to an analysis commissioned by the promoter. And according to information obtained from the Quebec government, six species of “threatened” birds have already been recorded on the site, out of the 142 species identified. Without forgetting the waterways which would also be fish habitats legally protected by the federal government. No environmental impact study has been required by the Legault government, which is financing the project, and Northvolt is awaiting authorization to destroy the wetlands.
Expansion at the port of Contrecoeur
Even before the end of the environmental assessment of the Contrecoeur container port megaproject, the Legault and Trudeau governments had already announced hundreds of millions of dollars in support of the Port of Montreal expansion project. Funding from Quebec has now reached $130 million, even if the promoters have not yet obtained all the environmental authorizations. You should know that the project will require the dredging of the St. Lawrence River over an area estimated at 150,000 square meters and the destruction of essential redhorse habitat. copper, a threatened species. Developers must therefore obtain authorization to destroy this habitat. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada specifies that it has not yet obtained “all the information necessary to make a decision.” The port authority promises to take measures to compensate for the loss of habitats.
Dredging in beluga habitat
The Société des ferry du Québec obtained authorization at the end of the summer to dredge and discharge sediments for the next ten years in a habitat of the St. Lawrence beluga, in the Rivière-du-Loup sector. Up to 60,000 cubic meters of sediment will be dredged each year, then transported by boat (nearly 450 transports). They will be released into an area located in the legally protected “critical habitat” of the “endangered” cetacean. However, there is no scientific study allowing an assessment of the effects of dredging operations on this species. According to an expert opinion from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, this region of the estuary is considered critical for “the most vulnerable segment of the population”, namely females and their young. The Société portuaire du Bas-Saint-Laurent et de la Gaspésie, which manages the port of Gros-Cacouna on behalf of the government of Quebec, has also submitted a dredging project which is currently undergoing environmental assessment.
The construction of wind turbines in the countryside
Wind energy projects are increasing in number across the region, which raises issues for the protection of the habitats of many species. This is particularly the case for the “Des Neiges” project, located in Charlevoix and developed by Hydro-Québec, Boralex and Énergir. One of the three sectors of this project, named “Charlevoix”, provides for the construction of 60 to 80 wind turbines, of which at least 18 would be installed in the “distribution area” of the woodland caribou population of Charlevoix. And at least two of the three phases of the project, namely the “South sector” and the “Charlevoix sector”, will be located in “essential habitat” of the thrush. Bicknell. More than half of the global population of this “critically endangered” bird is found in the province. The project is currently undergoing environmental assessment.