If returned to power, the Coalition avenir Québec promises to create three new national parks and inject $525 million into the protection of natural environments, learned The duty. The party is also committed to improving the network of protected areas in Quebec, although it rejected several projects to protect industrial interests during its first mandate.
According to information obtained by The duty, a second mandate of the government of François Legault would involve investments of more than $525 million to improve the protection of natural environments. The majority of this amount would go to the creation and expansion of national parks.
The most important project that would come to fruition would be the national park Nibiischii. Expected for several years, it represents an area of nearly 12,000 km2. However, its territory is already counted in the calculation of the territory protection objectives. The realization of the project will therefore not make it possible to improve the rate of protection of natural terrestrial environments in Quebec, which reached 17% at the end of 2020.
The Nibiischii National Park project must be carried out “in partnership with the Cree Nation of Mistissini”, according to what the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP) specifies on its website. This project, which was previously named Albanel-Témiscamie-Otish, would include Lake Mistassini, whose area of 2335 km2 makes it “the largest natural lake” in Quebec. “It is in the heart of the mountains of this vast territory that several large rivers have their source, such as the Rupert, Eastmain, La Grande, Péribonka, aux Outardes and Manicouagan rivers”, underlines the MFFP.
The CAQ would also add Parc national de la Côte-de-Charlevoix (approximately 70 km2) and that of the Dunes-de-Tadoussac (about 5 km2) to the network of the Society of Outdoor Establishments of Quebec (SEPAQ). It is also possible that the information obtained by The duty were to be unveiled by François Legault at the dunes of Tadoussac last week; the press conference which was to be held there was canceled due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
There has already been a “projected biodiversity reserve” in the Côte-de-Charlevoix since 2014. As for the Tadoussac dunes sector, which is regularly visited by tourists and village residents, the project to protect this zone of “marine terraces” has been mentioned for several years. The Quebec Ministry of the Environment even conducted a public consultation on this subject in 2013.
Expand parks
The CAQ also plans to expand the territory of five existing national parks, most of which are located near major centres, including Mont-Orford, which would gain more than 40 km2but also those of Îles-de-Boucherville and Mont-Saint-Bruno.
The next government will also shortly have to carry out a major white-tailed deer culling program in these two parks, under the responsibility of SEPAQ. There are at least 350 deer too many there, given the carrying capacity of their ecosystems.
If the Legault government is returned to power for the next four years, it should also put in place various protection milestones with a view to achieving the Quebec target of protecting 30% of natural land environments by 2030. Support is planned to help municipalities create more green spaces.
The duty also learned that nearly $100 million would be used to improve the network of protected areas on public and private lands. This means that the government should probably acquire land belonging to individuals or businesses in order to protect the natural environment there. In some cases, it would also involve renaturalizing land.
During its first mandate, the CAQ set aside no less than 83 projects of protected areas which were all located south of the “northern limit of attributable forests”. They therefore found themselves in the vast territory where the government authorizes industrial logging. Some projects have also been blocked due to the presence of oil and gas exploration permits, particularly in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie. However, these obstacles have since been removed due to the abolition of these permits in recent months.
For the director of the Society for Nature and Parks of Quebec, Alain Branchaud, the end of oil and gas exploration permits is an opportunity to be seized to accelerate the establishment of protected areas already proposed by the Ministry of l environment and the fight against climate change. According to him, more funds should also be provided for the protection of territories in the south of the province. His organization recommends investments of $50 million per year, or $200 million over four years.
Mr. Branchaud welcomes the idea of creating new national parks, but he believes that the next government must go further. In particular, he pleads for the creation of the Lac-Walker National Park, which is already listed as a “project” on the MFFP website.
The CAQ did not respond to questions from the To have to.