Managing ecosystems sustainably and maintaining biodiversity:     Is there a need for a Southern plan for Quebec?

Venu Location

Concordia University Conference Centre
9th floor, 1450 Rue Guy
Montréal , Quebec H3H 2K7
Canada

Background information

While the northern plan has been in the spotlight in the past few years, more and more people are calling for a southern plan for Quebec. However, the southern zone is under significant and long-standing pressure. Biodiversity loss is significant due to the loss of habitat (transformation of ecosystems, urban development, drainage), the exploitation of the resources they contain, pollution, biological invasions and climate change and, more generally, a less restrictive regulatory framework where it exists.

These pressures affect biodiversity and lead to profound changes in the functions and services provided by ecosystems on which large parts of the economy and our well-being more generally depend. Considering that biodiversity and ecosystems are the basis of any strategy to adapt to climate change, Quebec should also adopt a southern plan.

The purpose of this workshop is to lay the groundwork for a white paper that proposes a roadmap for implementing measures to protect ecosystems and maintain the biodiversity and ecological services that are so important to us. The recent demonstrations highlight the importance of these issues for many actors, and the possibility of reaching a consensus on the actions to be implemented by these actors. This consensus vision gathered in this white paper will be unveiled at the next ACFAS conference.

Steps in the process

Workshop of December 18, 2019: Bring together key stakeholders around a set of selected presentations that will serve as a basis for exchanges to bring out consensual representations on the major issues and priority actions to be implemented.

Writing the white paper: A white paper is written based on these consensual representations. It gives rise to the establishment of an inclusive dialogue with the other actors who validate the proposals and improve them, in particular to make them very concrete. The proposed white paper will detail the mechanics necessary to achieve the objectives of ecosystem conservation, sustainable management and biodiversity maintenance, a priority action plan and a draft mode of action to implement them.

ACFAS Colloquium: The white paper is officially unveiled at a 2-day colloquium at ACFAS in April 2020.

Partners

Panels 

Presentation

Natura 2000, European directives for the protection of habitats and species: the Walloon approach.

 Following the report issued at the end of the last century concerning the decline of biodiversity on its territory, the European Union, using two of its directives (Habitats and Birds), created the Natura 2000 Network.

With its 1,330,000 km² (60% terrestrial, 40% marine, 18.7% of the land of its 28 member states), Natura 2000 is the largest coordinated network of protected areas on the planet.

The project unites nature conservation and human activities through a specific set of objectives which aim to uphold the preservation, or, if it is too late, the restoration of habitats and species of particular interest to the community.

To achieve this, the European Commission subjected its member states to an obligation to produce results, but leaves them the choice of approach.

Wallonia, as a federal entity, has long shown its competence in conservation of nature on its lands. Wallonia established its Natura 2000 network in 2008 through 2015, with careful selection and designation after a public inquest on 240 sites, based on scientific criteria stemming from the leading knowledge of naturalists at the time.

This network now covers almost 221,000 hectares – 13% of the territory – and of which three quarters are occupied by public and private forest. It contains 41 habitats of community interest, including 10 that are considered priorities, 69 species found in the habitat directive and 65 species found in the bird directive.

The strategy of implementation combines a legislative basis with active solicitation to find voluntary contractualizations.

A methodology of inventory and mapping was established using management units on the sites and conservation measures associated to each of these, enabling the identification of biological issues and providing the necessary foundations to implement appropriate regulations. A policy of compensation allows the property owners concerned to get restitution for any loss of revenue resulting from Natura 2000.

Finally, in answer to Europe’s demands of periodically evaluating the usefulness of the network, a large monitoring network of the state of conservation of habitats and species concerned, both in and out of the Natura 2000 network, has been implemented. This procedure uses many resources, but allows us to review the situation every 6 years, a necessary step for any and all strategy re-evaluation and re-orientation concerning regional biodiversity conservation.