Canada’s boreal forests are among the largest carbon sinks on the planet and, according to the Climate Institute of Canada, they sequester about 28 billion tonnes of carbon, the equivalent of 40 times the annual greenhouse gas emissions of greenhouse in the country. A significant part of Quebec’s boreal forest has until now been spared from industrial activities, but the situation could change, because this northern territory contains large quantities of critical and strategic minerals, such as lithium, which are coveted by industries. mining.
In Quebec, the boreal forest covers an area of approximately 1 million square kilometres, which is equivalent to 70% of the territory. If we draw an imaginary straight line between Rouyn-Noranda and Gaspé, the boreal forest essentially corresponds to the territory to the north of it and to a small part of that to the south.
The further north you go, the more you find ecosystems that have not yet been altered by man and that have been accumulating and sequestering immense amounts of carbon for centuries.
“In a boreal environment, the forest decomposes very slowly, more slowly than in a tropical environment, and therefore, there is a significant accumulation of carbon which remains in the soils formed from dead organic matter. And since the boreal forest has an immense surface area, it plays a major role on a global scale in carbon sequestration”, summarizes Xavier Cavard, member of the Center for Forest Studies and holder of the UQAT-MFFP Research Chair. on forest carbon management.
“Before exploiting this region, we must not only consider the forest, but also the soil, because wetlands store a lot, a lot, a lot of carbon. There is a lot of carbon stored in the organic soils around James Bay,” adds Alison Munson, professor of forest ecology and biogeochemistry at Laval University.
It is precisely the soils of the forest that are of interest to mining companies. Currently, there are close to 400 mining exploration projects in the Eeyou Istchee region, the traditional territory of the James Bay Crees in the boreal forest.
We do not know how many mines will be in operation in the next few years in northern Quebec, but the potential is there, and the government wants to take advantage of it.
“La Grande Alliance”, a memorandum of understanding signed in 2020 between the Quebec government and the Cree nation, provides for a rail network of approximately 700 kilometers, the construction of hundreds of kilometers of new roads and power lines and the creation a deep-water port in the boreal forest to allow mining companies to have access to critical minerals.
“Will there be enough mining to harm ecosystem services like carbon sequestration? It is difficult to say for the moment, but we must remain vigilant, ”according to Mr. Cavard.
Don’t repeat past mistakes
Environmental activist and president of l’Action boréale Henri Jacob asks the promoters of La Grande Alliance, formed by delegates from the Cree nation and the Quebec government, to avoid “making the same mistakes as in Abitibi”, where the he mining industry has exploited the boreal forest “without worrying about future generations” and taken “possession of 40% of the soil”.
“What has happened in Abitibi since the early 1930s”, we must “learn lessons from it”, because “what we see today are mining tailings sites, what we calls slam, the residue that often goes into waterways with heavy metals and with other chemicals and other matter. This means that the environment is often really seriously degraded. In some cases, it is irreversible”, denounces the ecologist, adding “that we must do mining development in a more intelligent way”.
“The exploitation of strategic minerals to make batteries, electric vehicles, in theory that sounds good. But when we praise the virtues of an electric car that drives around without an exhaust pipe, and therefore without emitting CO2we forget to say that, to build it, it will be necessary to operate mines, whether in Abitibi, or further north, mines which generate a lot of CO2 during operation. And after mining, there is no biodiversity left on the mining site. »
Professor Alison Munson has a more nuanced view on the matter. “The energy transition will require minerals, if we want to reach the climate targets and the deadlines we have set for stopping sales of gasoline vehicles. So that means that this transition will have to be relatively quick and for the moment, the technologies that are most available to achieve this require the extraction of lithium. »
Protect caribou and vulnerable species
The president of Action boréale points out that in Abitibi and other regions, the forestry industry has removed a large part of the old forest and replaced it with younger trees, thus depriving the caribou of their habitat and its food. It is recognized that forest roads represent one of the main threats to the survival of cervids, since they promote the movement of natural predators such as wolves. The ecologist therefore expresses the wish that the promoters of La Grande Alliance “plan road closures” after mining operations so that “animals and plants come back to life”.
The multiplication of roads planned by La Grande Alliance to allow mining companies to exploit the northern boreal forest represents “a major challenge” for caribou, according to Professor Xavier Cavard.
“It is extremely sensitive to habitat fragmentation,” and “disturbance from roads and transportation” can “really affect herd well-being” and ultimately the survival of the species.
“We can think that in 2023, this is the kind of thing we will try to avoid in Quebec,” adds the holder of the UQAT-MFFP Research Chair in Forest Carbon Management.
The most recent inventory of woodland caribou in Nottaway, the main caribou population that frequents the traditional territory of the James Bay Crees, is estimated at 282 individuals, compared to 308 in 2016.
The decline in this population could therefore be 8% in six years. But scientific models that use satellite telemetry provide much more pessimistic estimates.
This makes Carl Patenaude-Levasseur, director general of the coordination of wildlife management at the Ministry of the Environment, say that “the exact extent of this decline is difficult to establish with certainty” and “it is possible to estimate that population abundance may have declined by an order of magnitude of 8% to 28% over the past six years.
When we praise the virtues of an electric car that drives around without an exhaust pipe, and therefore without emitting CO2we forget to say that, to build it, it will be necessary to exploit mines […] which generate a lot of CO2. And after mining, there is no biodiversity left on the mining site.
Avoiding the disappearance of the caribou is one of the concerns of the promoters of La Grande Alliance (LGA), at least on paper.
An interim report of The Grand Alliance’s environmental impacts states that “the ability to ensure that such infrastructure does not cause development in environmentally and culturally sensitive areas or increase the risk to vulnerable species is of great importance to avoid conflicts between development and all communities”.
The James Bay Native Development Corporation and the Cree Development Corporation (SDC) were mandated by the Cree Nation Government and the Government of Quebec to carry out the feasibility studies for La Grande Alliance and its impact. on the environment.
The interim report indicates that 54 terrestrial mammals, 184 bird species and 16 protected species such as beluga whale, caribou and polar bear frequent the study area, which stretches between the towns of Matagami to the west. , Whapmagoostui to the north and Mistissini to the east.
Protect 30% of the Cree territory
In the fall, the Grand Chief of the Cree Nation of Quebec, Mandy Gull-Masty, told The Canadian Press that the protection of species, the protection of the territory and cultural practices of the Crees would be essential in the implementation of The Grand Alliance, insisting that for now, “The Grand Alliance was only a memorandum of understanding” and that once the studies are completed, the members of the nation will be consulted again “to decide on next steps.
Despite the environmental consequences of mining in the boreal forest, professor of forest ecology and biogeochemistry Alison Munson finds the inclusion of the Cree nation in the mining development of northern Quebec particularly “interesting”.
“They will have control over the economic and social impacts for their communities,” she said.
A section of the memorandum of understanding provides for “the creation of a protected air system that covers 30% of their territory by 2030. The Crees will therefore determine what they want to protect for their hunting and for the cultural heritage . The caribou are vulnerable, but they are the ones who have the best information to protect them,” adds the Université Laval teacher.
According to her, if this alliance materializes, it could even serve as a model elsewhere in the country, recalling that many Aboriginal communities have very little control over the industrial activities that take place on their territory.
She gives the example of the Ring of Fire, a critical mineral deposit located in a remote region of northern Ontario.
For fifteen years, the Ontario government has been trying to develop road infrastructure for the mining industry in this region of the boreal forest, which in 2022 had more than 26,000 active mining claims over an area of 4,972 km2.
According to the government, copper, zinc, gold, diamond, nickel and other minerals are present in the Ring of Fire.
“From what I see, the Ontario government is moving forward despite the opposition of various Aboriginal communities,” notes the specialist in forest biogeochemistry.
The Canadian Press attempted to obtain an interview with a representative of La Grande Alliance regarding the project’s potential impact on biodiversity and the ability of the boreal forest to fight climate change. La Grande Alliance spokesperson Samuel Lessard declined the offer, explaining that he preferred to wait for the results of the feasibility studies planned in the coming weeks.
Journalist Stéphane Blais was supported by the Michener Foundation, which awarded him the Michener-Deacon Fellowship for Investigative Journalism in 2022, to document the possible impacts of lithium mining in northern Quebec. This article is the last in a series of four reports, and has been published for all the platforms of the Duty.