Quebec allocates 144 million to improve protected areas

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The funds will be used to protect ecological connectivity corridors in 11 regions of Quebec. (Archive photo)

The Canadian Press

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The government of Quebec grants $144.1 million to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (CNC) to improve the network of private protected areas in the south of the province, according to what The Canadian Press has learned.

This unprecedented investment, according to the Ministry of the Environment, aims to protect ecological connectivity corridors in 11 regions of Quebec.

Ecological connectivity refers to the unimpeded migration and movement of animals and plants within their environment.

This is a historic agreement. There has never been such a large amount donated to a conservation organization, so we are truly honored by the government's confidence, indicated CNC vice-president for Quebec, Claire Ducharme, adding that her organization will share this grant with other conservation organizations.

She confided that joy comes with a little dizziness, because the &x27; agreement provides that each dollar invested by Quebec must be doubled by investments.

It comes with a challenge of fundraising and philanthropy where we must find full of partners, she stressed.

This agreement aims to accelerate the conservation of biodiversity in southern Quebec, from Outaouais to Gaspésie, indicated Claire Ducharme.

To give a concrete example, we will work in particular on the corridor between the Plaisance national park and the Mont-Tremblant national park. This is a corridor where we already have a good core of preserved areas and we will try to connect already existing protected areas.

A quote from Claire Ducharme, vice-president for Quebec of the Nature Conservancy of Canada

This initiative is used to acquire new land to protect it.

We have a lot of ecological donations and, in other cases, we buy at fair market value, obviously, said Ms. Ducharme.

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Plaisance National Park, located along the Ottawa River, is two-thirds made up of wetlands and marshes. (Archive photo)

This funding comes from the budget of $444 million planned over five years for the implementation of the future Nature Plan 2030, announced by the government in order to achieve the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework from Kunming to Montreal, the objective of which is to protect 30% of the territory by 2030.

The grant to NCC is spread over five years and the new conservation program is divided into four components:

According to the Ministry of the Environment, since 2020, the Partnership Project for Natural Environments (PPMN), in which the government has invested more than $53 million, has made it possible to support around a hundred projects to acquire land dedicated to conservation.