Despite repeated warnings from scientists about the impact of a major wind project on the caribou of Charlevoix, the developers are staying the course: they want to build wind turbines in the deer’s habitat, noted The duty. Quebec and Ottawa have nevertheless promised to protect this population on the verge of extinction, which is targeted by the proposed federal decree.
Hydro-Québec, Énergir and Boralex have joined forces to develop the Neiges projects, which consist of three projects of 400 megawatts (MW) each, for a total of 1,200 MW. One of these projects, called Secteur Charlevoix, initially planned to build 70 wind turbines, including 18 located in the “range” of the woodland caribou.
The proponents believed at the time that their project would have “no impact” on the Charlevoix caribou. However, this point of view has been repeatedly challenged by scientists from the governments of Quebec and Canada in the “expert opinions” written in response to the documents filed by the proponents as part of the project assessment. The project will be subject to review by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement.
After several discussions with government experts for nearly two years, the companies piloting this development have finally chosen to recently remove six wind turbines from the caribou’s range. This proposal, presented as an “optimization” of the project, means that wind turbines and roads are still planned in habitats that could become “refuges” for caribou in a context of climate change, according to scientists.
“We are sensitive to the precarious situation of the caribou and it is in this sense that our teams have redoubled their efforts in recent months to propose an alternative configuration that reduces encroachment into the caribou’s distribution area,” explains Boralex, in a written response to questions from the Duty. This proposal “was designed to strike a balance between the viability of the project and the protection of the project area most conducive to possible caribou use.”
In the “optimization report” detailing their proposal, the developers state, however, that it is impossible to completely avoid the construction of wind turbines in this distribution area. According to what they argue, the removal of 17 wind turbines, out of the 68 planned for the entire Charlevoix Sector, “would make the project unviable.” The document specifies in particular the obligation to provide 400 MW to Hydro-Québec, but also regulatory constraints and the choice of optimal locations for the wind turbines.
“These explanations being succinct, imprecise or erroneous, they raise concerns that could lead, at the next stage of the impact assessment process, to issues of acceptability,” reply the experts from the Quebec Ministry of the Environment bluntly, after having analyzed the “optimization” proposal.
Wildlife scientists also doubt the effectiveness of possible “compensation measures” mentioned by the proponents, but which remain to be defined. In a recent opinion, they emphasize that “it is difficult” to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach on the recovery of caribou, particularly for “a population that is already severely weakened.” In this context, “only the avenue of avoidance will reduce the loss of habitats” for caribou, they point out.
They also point out that the objective should be to “reduce the disturbance rate” of forest environments, which reaches around 90% in the region, to bring it below the 35% threshold. “Considering the scale of habitat restoration actions to be implemented in the distribution area of this population, new permanent disturbances must be avoided whenever possible.”
What’s more, according to the scientific literature, the impacts on the woodland caribou are felt up to four kilometres around the wind turbine sites. Experts from the Quebec Ministry of the Environment have therefore already indicated to the developers that “the complete protection of the range” of the threatened deer would involve moving all the wind turbines planned in this area, but also within a radius of four kilometres around it. They see this as “a compromise between the protection of a vulnerable species and the shift towards green energy.”
Federal decree
A recognized specialist in woodland caribou, Martin-Hugues St-Laurent also believes that we must avoid aggravating the “permanent disturbances” of this population’s habitat by building wind turbines and roads. “We see that reproduction works in enclosures. We now have 39 caribou. But if we want to be able to release them and not lose them, we must address the factors that have brought this population into such a critical situation. That means we will have to work hard, for several years, to restore the forest environments.”
A conservation biologist at the Société pour la nature et les parcs du Québec, Pier-Olivier Boudreault points out that the enclosure of the Charlevoix caribou is part of a long-term effort to allow this population to one day reoccupy the territory. “In this context, the entire range is important,” he maintains. “The question that arises is this: do we want to fight the climate crisis by harming biodiversity?”
It should be noted that the last 16 caribou in Charlevoix were captured in 2022 and put in enclosures to prevent their outright extinction. Since then, there have been several births and their number has increased to 39 animals, according to the most recent official report, published Wednesday. This means that the enclosure will soon no longer be enough to contain all the animals, warns Martin-Hugues St-Laurent. However, without restoration measures, the animals are condemned to captivity.
The Legault government also promised earlier this year to implement measures to save these caribou, “by focusing on habitat conservation and restoration.” These measures are currently the subject of a consultation. The Trudeau government, for its part, wants to include this population of deer in its emergency decree, which is also in public consultation. This decree would aim to prohibit activities that affect the habitat essential to the survival of the species.