Program for Restoring and Creating Wetlands and Bodies of Water

Authors:
Émilie Larochelle, Geneviève Dufour Tremblay, Sébastien Amodéo

Publication Date:
2021

Abstract/Summary:
Québec’s lower St. Lawrence River wetlands have experienced significant losses in area since the onset of European began. Bodies of water have also been transformed over the course of recent decades in order to improve the drainage and productivity of agricultural lands. However, wetlands and bodies of water fulfill a variety of ecological functions. Today, these ecosystems are insufficient in number in several lower St. Lawrence River basins to deal with climate change. Creating and restoring wetlands and bodies of water is now the preferred approach used to counterbalance the inevitable losses and disturbances experienced by these environments. In order to reach the no net loss objective for wetlands and bodies of water, the Act respecting the conservation of wetlands and bodies of water was adopted in June 2017, and an initial province-wide, three-year Program for Restoring and Creating Wetlands and Bodies of Water, was launched in June 2019. The aim of the program is to redistribute to Regional County Municipalities, the amounts paid into a fund to compensate for the inevitable loss of wetlands and bodies of water within their boundaries. The initial program has a total budget of $30 million (divided into two components) that will enable it to fund projects for restoring and creating wetlands and bodies of water. The first call for projects was launched in the winter of 2020. Part 1 covers prefeasibility studies, while Part 2 funds restoration and creation projects. The best projects will be selected by the Ministère and a committee of independent experts.

Resource Type:
Conference Presentation, SER2021

Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program

Source:
SER2021