With investors and philanthropists descending on Montreal for an international summit on nature protection, Canada’s environment minister took the opportunity to announce some projects aimed at preserving the city’s green spaces.
Among the areas that will get some attention Boucherville’s islands, located in the middle of the St-Lawrence River near the exit of the Louis-Hypolite Lafontaine Tunnel. Those islands are currently a provincial park but Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the size of the protected area will be increased to also include several other islands and river-front properties, covering just under 800 hectares.
“We need areas that are protected and that are closer to where people live,” said McKenna. “It’s not the quantity of the land that’s protected, it’s the quality.”
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante and the Port of Montreal both said they backed the plan, thought the provincial government hasn’t yet committed any money to the plan.
McKenna did not offer a timeline for when the project would be completed, calling it a work in progress. The federal Liberal government has promised to double Canada’s protected lands by 2020, though McKenna couldn’t say if Ottawa was on pace to meet its target.
Environmental group Nature Action Quebec spokesperson Pascal Bigras said he was encouraged at the announcement, which also included a second project expanding protection to green areas in Montreal.
“You start with small municipal projects, a neighbourhood, a small wooded area and you build from there,” he said. “The protection of these green areas are considered essential to protecting biodiversity.”
Biologist Alexandrine Larson-Dupuis also praised the plan.
“The south of Quebec is one of the places where you have the most biodiversity so they’re very important natural lands and what we’re protecting is small pieces of large protected forests,” she said.
