The MRC of Haute-Gaspésie rejected en bloc 20 protected area projects submitted by citizens and groups, in response to an “appeal” launched by the government of François Legault to respect the objectives of protecting Quebec’s biodiversity . A situation denounced by project leaders, who fear that several of the approximately 400 proposals presented in the province will be put aside before even having been analyzed.
As part of its “commitment” to protect 30% of the province’s territory by 2030, the Quebec government launched a “call for projects” in June for protected areas on public lands in the south of the province, “where biodiversity is rich and where threats to it are growing”.
Proof of the enthusiasm for this initiative, more than 400 projects have been submitted. To be deemed admissible by the government, however, they must include a “resolution of support for the analysis of the project” from the MRC concerned. This resolution, which must be tabled by January 10, does not constitute support for the protection project. This is only support for the fact that it could be retained for a “regional consultation” and a possible “reserve” of the territory in 2027. In short, at the end of several stages to come.
The council of the MRC of La Haute-Gaspésie, however, decided on Wednesday to reject en bloc 20 proposals presented for this region. Among these projects, we found in particular a protected area which would have made it possible to preserve habitats suitable for the Gaspésie caribou, which is on the verge of extinction. Another project concerned the Madeleine River, a salmon river hit by the marked decline in returns.
“As responsible elected officials, we decided to refuse en bloc,” bluntly admits the prefect of the MRC, Guy Bernatchez, in an interview with Duty. “We want to send a message to the government of Quebec and also a message of regional solidarity. We therefore decided to position ourselves against the process”, which is, according to him, “very problematic”.
Mr. Bernatchez says he fears the economic impacts of implementing additional protected area projects, particularly for forestry, wind development and recreational tourism. He believes that the government should first resolve the case of the caribou protection “pilot project” before considering further protection of natural environments.
Protection and “vitality”
“We accepted the fact that the Chic-Chocs wildlife reserve and the Gaspésie national park are there. But that’s enough. Let us manage our territory. And the people who arrive with their great virtues, who know everything and who see us as innocent, I’m tired of that. I’m disgusted, forget the prefect of the MRC. There are people who arrive from large centers, who settle here, who have lived here for a year and who know everything and want to tell us what to do. We are no longer capable of this discourse. »
President of the committee which is piloting the project submitted for the protection of the Madeleine River and salmon fisherman in the region for more than 25 years, Robert Poupart deplores the refusal of the MRC. He recalls that salmon fishing is a crucial element for “the economic vitality” of this “devitalized” community, hence the importance, according to him, of ensuring the preservation of the watercourse.
“Contrary to the prevailing prejudice, a protected area is not a glass bell which seals, padlocks, a territory. There are several different protected area regimes which allow sustainable exploitation of the forest, therefore ecoforestry which combines yield, conservation and accessibility,” he explains.
“We are not asking to decree the protected area project. We are asking to think about it with all the stakeholders, Mr. Poupart also argues. If the Ministry of the Environment continues to allow the MRCs the possibility of decreeing that we do not have the right to think, it will be impossible to achieve the protection target of 30% of the territory. The ministry must affirm that in the context of climate change, we must allow ourselves to think. »
“Break” the civic momentum
Same story from the expert accompanying the caribou habitat protection project in the La Martre sector, Julie Reid Forget. “A total of 20 projects for Haute-Gaspésie is impressive. People want to take care of the territory. The wholesale refusal of the MRC amounts to breaking a civic momentum,” she underlines, adding that the La Martre project was a “protected area of sustainable use”, i.e. a structure which allows the exploitation of natural resources. , while preserving biodiversity.
Nature Québec also saw its proposal rejected on Wednesday by the MRC of La Haute-Gaspésie. She had submitted a very detailed document describing a “biodiversity reserve” project which would have made it possible to protect “nerve areas” for caribou located mainly on public lands on the outskirts of the Gaspésie national park. Indeed, if the heart of the deer’s habitat is in the park, the territory necessary for its survival is larger and today targeted by mining exploration permits or degraded by logging.
In this context, the general director of Nature Québec, Alice-Anne Simard, asks Quebec to intervene to avoid blocking projects even before they are the subject of a regional consultation. “It is the responsibility of the Minister of the Environment to create a representative network of protected areas in all regions of Quebec. In cases where an MRC refuses outright all new protected area projects, we ask Minister Benoit Charette to take responsibility for this matter and to publicly commit to analyzing the projects submitted to his ministry nonetheless. . »
The Society for Nature and Parks (SNAP Quebec), which received the mandate from the government to provide “promotion” and “support” linked to the call for projects, therefore considers that an additional information effort is necessary for the MRCs to fully understand the nature of the process, which is also detailed on the government website dedicated to the initiative.
“We must work to gain the trust of the MRCs, who will have the chance to voice their concerns during the analysis and consultations,” affirms its general director, Alain Branchaud. According to him, there is a “misunderstanding” of the decision-making process, but also of the “positive socio-economic benefits” linked to protected areas.
The president of the Quebec Federation of Municipalities, Jacques Demers, says he understands the concerns of the MRCs. He also urges the government to start “a conversation” in order to think about the territorial development that is the responsibility of the MRCs in different regions.
The MRC of the La Tuque agglomeration also refused to support the submission of projects. A little more than fifteen were developed in the region, following the call from Quebec.
Why did we give the MRC the right to reject projects even before their “analysis”? “This way of proceeding allows us to ensure the social acceptability of projects within the community before moving on to subsequent stages,” Minister Benoit Charette’s office indicated Thursday.
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