The ability of ecosystems and human societies to adapt to the ongoing climate change will depend on our ability to create sustainable landscapes with diverse and resilient socio-ecological networks. The creation of ecological corridors is the conservation strategy most frequently proposed to enhance landscape connectivity. Recent research, however, addresses the challenge of designing ecological networks that are robust to climate change. Our goal is to design a wide ecological network in the Western Lowlands of the St. Lawrence, which maintains biodiversity and sustainable and resilient ecosystems to anticipated climate change and changes in land use in the coming decades. We created maps showing all the forest fragments in the study region and have quantified their contribution to ecological network. This project is providing the information needed by the Quebec government, including the MDDEP and the MNR, municipalities (MRC), local and regional conservation NGOs, as well as researchers and biologists working in the field. We believe that the results will guide the development of Montreal green belt. Click here for more info.