Montérégie in catch-up mode

When it comes to the outdoors, Montérégie is not the most blessed region in Quebec. Some sixty organizations have decided to join forces to improve the situation.

“We only have 4% of protected natural environments,” says Anick Bribosia, recreation advisor and head of the outdoor component at Loisir et Sport Montérégie. “On the island of Montreal, they have 15%. We are really disadvantaged in the outdoors.”

The region does have two national parks, but they are two of the three smallest parks in the SEPAQ network, namely the Îles-de-Boucherville and Mont-Saint-Bruno. Montérégie can also count on the Montérégie hills… but there is a “but”.

“It’s a very interesting and important geological formation for Montérégie, but some are 100% private,” emphasizes Mr.^me Bribosia. There are a lot of maple groves and orchards there, but these are areas that are not necessarily accessible to the population.

She notes that Montérégie cannot count on vast public lands, as found in the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Gaspésie.

Over the past two years, representatives from some sixty organizations have participated in meetings hosted by Loisir et Sport Montérégie to ultimately produce an outdoor development plan for the region.

“The first axis is to structure the offer well by poles of attraction”, underlines M^me Bribosia.

This includes banking on the region’s special attractions, what it calls its “water jewels.”

“We realize that our backbone is the Richelieu,” says M.^me Bribosia. So, our watersheds are very important: Lake Champlain, the Richelieu, Lake Saint-Louis, the Saint-Laurent River, the Châteauguay River. That’s why we looked into developing blue routes.”

The region has actually been very active with the creation of blue routes, which are half-day to full-day paddling routes.

“We have 26 in 2024. Next year, we will reach 41.”

The region is also rich in cycle paths, with 600 kilometres of dedicated lanes. The aim now is to connect sections.

“Tourisme Montérégie is working very hard to identify the missing links,” says Anick Bribosia.

The idea is to connect the Montérégie hills together, with cycling networks, but also with hiking trails.

“Sometimes, we will have no choice but to go with hiking trails because we do not want to disturb natural environments in certain places.”

These links between the hills (and the villages) could pass through banks.

The second axis is particularly strong: increasing natural spaces, which are currently insufficient in Montérégie.

“We are working hand in hand with organizations that want to buy land to increase our natural environments because we are very far from the 30% announced as the government objective for Quebec,” says Anick Bribosia. “We have a lot of work to do. We can go through renaturalization, improving brownfields. We can also encourage private owners to preserve their natural environments. We are looking at an eco-fiscal rule that could finance these owners.”

It will be long, complex, but achievable, according to her.

“We have the energy, we have the passion to do it.”

The third axis will be easier and quicker to implement.

“It’s about initiating, educating, and making people responsible,” says M.^me Bribosia: We want to create an educational program on the natural environment to increase the level of environmental awareness.

The rare natural environments in Montérégie are often overused. For example, hikers and mountain bikers stray from the trails at Mont-Saint-Bruno Park, which harms regrowth in the undergrowth.

Anick Bribosia also mentions the importance of increasing the level of knowledge of outdoor users to increase their safety.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go on the St. Lawrence River with our inflatable paddleboard from Costco when the water levels are very high and there is a risk of a storm coming in the next 30 minutes.”