Biodiversity Quebec launches online portal

On the sidelines of the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal, Biodiversity Quebec unveiled on Thursday a 'unique' scientific platform of integrated and popularized data on Quebec biodiversity.

The platform includes more than 21 million integrated observations, including 2,223 species of plants, vertebrates and invertebrates -- a fraction of the 40,000 or so species thought to be present in Quebec.

"I think this is really what we needed, a portrait, not just a study here and there, or data on a given cycle, but really to have (...) an overall view," explained Biodiversity Quebec coordinator Catherine Gauthier.

Biodiversity Quebec said this is 'the first platform of its kind in Quebec', which should make it possible to "better understand and analyze the general state of biodiversity here, in real time and over the longer term."

The data integrated and disseminated on the portal come from various sources, including the inventories of the Quebec government's Biodiversity Monitoring Network.

The portal offers, for example, an interactive map by region, which currently includes 21 million observations made across the province.

"Yes, there are other monitoring platforms elsewhere in the world for biodiversity," said Gauthier. "I think the really unique element of the portal is that it's accessible, it's nice, it's user-friendly as well to navigate, to get information. I think it is rather unique for monitoring biodiversity. And then, in the long term, the objective is to be able to ensure better monitoring of species throughout Quebec."

"The portal is aimed at both researchers and the general public," said Gauthier. The former will find more scientific data to study, while the general public will find more accessible content, such as blogs.

"We are actually able to compile data that is accessible to the public, to land managers and to the government, so that we can really observe changes in ecosystems, which also gives us a better understanding of nature," she added. "And of course, our ultimate goal is to improve the preservation of natural environments."

Biodiversity Quebec is a scientific partnership between the Centre de la science de la biodiversité du Québec, the Université de Sherbrooke and the Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 8, 2022