The Innu of Essipit, a community located near Escoumins on the North Shore, want to protect 30% of their Nitassinan, their ancestral territory slowly eaten away by the forestry industry and recreational development.
The latter extends from the Saguenay River, in the west, to the Portneuf River, in the east. The Saint Lawrence delimits the southern border of this territory. To the north, the Nitassinan of the Essipit First Nation begins from Saint-Fulgence until it skirts Moncouche and Laflamme lakes, both located in the unorganized forest territory of Mont-Valin.
One year after participating in COP15 in Montreal on biodiversity, the First Nation Council is displaying its ambition to create a network of connected and protected habitats within 30% of its territory.
“We want to protect and connect areas of importance for our community, for species like caribou and for biodiversity in general,” explains Michael Rpss, Director of Development and Territory for the Innus First Nation of Essipit. We aim to establish a real conservation network on our Nitassinan. »
The ancestral territory serves as a school and refuge for Innu culture. “This is where we practice hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, etc.,” says Michael Ross. Our elders and people who respect our traditions go out annually, on a few occasions, with elementary and secondary school children to share this culture, our ways of doing things and the respect we owe to nature. For us, to be able to practice our culture, we need a healthy territory. »
However, the community notes the gradual and continuous decline of its Nitassinan over the years. “There is a constant degradation of this territory, that is why we seek to preserve it. We don’t want to put it under a glass cover: we simply want to protect it from intensive logging. »
The proposal submitted Wednesday provides for a corridor of more than 1,200 km2 around Akumunan, the “haven” in Innu, a 285 km biodiversity reserve2 created in 2020 and located about fifty kilometers north of Tadoussac.
This “haven” constitutes an essential habitat for the prosperity of woodland caribou, now in danger, and contains among the oldest forests still spared from logging in Quebec. The Innu of Essipit have contributed, over the last decades, to defending this territory also populated by Bicknell’s thrushes and Barrow’s goldeneyes, both considered vulnerable.
“Protecting the Akumunan preserves watersheds and caribou habitat,” explains Michael Ross. In recent years, we have closed around forty kilometers of forest roads, in addition to having built around 80 cabins near different lakes to help the Barrow’s goldeneye nest. The species needs normal cavities: normally it takes advantage of large rotting trees to make its nest, but with logging there are fewer of them. »
The planned corridor would connect Akumunan to the Vallée-de-la-Rivière-Sainte-Marguerite biodiversity reserve, dedicated in 2022 and measuring 320 km2.
The Essipit Innu First Nation intends to submit its proposal to the Quebec Ministry of the Environment this winter to reserve the territories to be protected by 2025.
I look at our neighbors in Pessamit who have submitted a great project, a concrete project, a promising project for the same caribou herd that we are also trying to protect, deplores Michael Ross. All we hear is that it’s been radio silence for a few years. We hope that the message we are sending today will allow a dialogue to take place quickly. »