In the absence of the strategy expected for five years to try to avoid the disappearance of the woodland caribou, the Legault government announces a “consultation” on measures supposed to better protect 3 of the 13 populations that live in the territory. And Quebec leaves the door open to the continuation of certain industrial activities in habitats suitable for caribou, particularly in Gaspésie.
“If we only had the caribou in mind, we would sacrifice towns and villages,” Minister of the Environment Benoit Charette said on Tuesday. “We must consider the impacts of these measures,” he added, when announcing the upcoming consultations. At the same time, he came to the defense of the forestry industry.
After having postponed on several occasions the unveiling of a plan to save the species demanded by scientists, First Nations and the federal government, Quebec plans to put in place protection measures for the caribou of the Gaspésie, to those currently in captivity in Charlevoix and for a population on the North Shore.
“Glass bell”
But the CAQ government does not want to put a “glass bell” on the last habitats suitable for threatened deer, underlined Minister Charette. He believes that we should not formally “ban” activities such as logging or mining, but rather see “what can be done or not”, and this, “in respect of the habitat and the beast “.
In Gaspésie, where caribou concentrate in the Gaspésie National Park and in neighboring areas, the consultation document indicates that the government could authorize the continuation of mining activities linked to exploration and exploitation in “ conservation massifs” or in a “habitat zone under restoration”.
You should know that the increase in the number of mining exploration permits in recent years means that the national park created by the Quebec government is bordered by permits to the south, north and east. These also overlap with the habitat of the Gaspésie caribou.
The government is also considering “allowing the development and operation of a quarry or sand pit within the limits of the habitat of a threatened or vulnerable wildlife species targeting the woodland caribou or the mountain caribou of Gaspésie” .
Logging activities, but also the construction of a new road, may also take place in certain habitats, but they will be subject to “conditions” or “authorization”.
“Administrative measures”
In terms of habitat protection, it would be a question of “promoting active habitat restoration to aim for a disturbance rate of less than 35% and a return to quality habitat,” specifies the consultation document. . We are also planning “administrative measures”, and not a protected area, in the sector known as “Vallières de Saint-Réal”. Minister Charette stressed that mining interests are present in this sector.
The caribou population of Gaspésie today amounts to around thirty animals. The situation of this population is so dramatic that the government attempted, last winter and the previous one, operations to capture pregnant females in order to give birth to the fawns in captivity.
Quebec is also planning measures for the Charlevoix caribou, all of which are currently in captivity and which number around thirty animals. The government also wants to expand the Caribou-Forestiers-de-Manouane-Manicouagan biodiversity reserve, to add an area of approximately 4,826 km2. It would thus exceed 10,000 km2.
Populations at risk
These first elements of the government plan therefore do not concern all caribou herds, even if most are today in precarious, even critical situations.
According to a recent international scientific study, industrial logging carried out in Quebec over tens of thousands of square kilometers has seriously disrupted the habitats necessary for the survival of the woodland caribou. Result: 11 of the 13 populations in the province are today at “risk” of extinction.
Concerned by the “extremely precarious situation” of the woodland caribou and the absence of a plan to rescue this endangered species in Quebec, the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, demanded last month the publication of the strategy promised since several years by the Legault government by the 1er may.
In the event of refusal, Ottawa could decree protective measures. Such a gesture, unprecedented on the part of the federal government, could add more than 35,000 km2 of protected habitat for deer.