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Québec Economic Plan
MONTRÉAL, May 22, 2018 – As part of the 2018–2019 budget speech, when the Government of Québec announced an unprecedented increase in funding in the environmental sector, $40.9 million in appropriations was granted to the Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MDDELCC) so that it can effectively management and develop the network of protected areas in Québec.
That is what Isabelle Melançon, Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, recalled today in Montréal, while she was taking part in the ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity.
The investments announced in March 2018 will, for instance, allow the MDDELCC to:
- Continue holding consultations in a number of regions in Québec to ensure the social acceptability of protected-area projects and determine the necessary adjustments to be made, as needed, in order to attract the support of the community;
- Financially support initiatives in terms of voluntary conservation of the natural environment on private land, for example in the south of Québec;
- In partnership with coastal communities, target proposed protected marine areas in the Lawrence estuary.
In addition, the allocated funds will support the MDDELCC’s efforts to manage and showcase the hundred or so protected areas created since 2000 as well as the new protected areas that will be created in the coming years. In particular, they will ensure that the protected areas are accessible to the public, and that recreational activities are carried out safely. To that effect, partnerships with regional and Indigenous communities will be established.
Quote:
Since 1992, as a federated state, Québec is bound, by order, to the principles and objectives of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity. Twenty-five years later, it continues to integrate biodiversity concerns into all the major policies that are aimed at sustainable development. On this International Day for Biological Diversity, I am proud to recognize the Government of Québec’s efforts to protect biodiversity and to have announced the sum of $40.9 million in order to achieve government objectives in protected areas and to ensure their long-term sustainability.
– Isabelle Melançon, Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change
Key points:
- The Government of Québec has committed to reaching 17% of protected areas in terrestrial areas and inland water, including 20% in the Plan Nord territory, and 10% in marine and coastal areas, by 2020.
- Québec currently has some 4,760 natural sites that fit the definition of protected area. On March 31, 2018, Québec had 156,709 km2 of protected areas, representing 9.40% of its total area and approximately 325 times the size of the Island of Montréal. The network of protected marine areas, for its part, spans 1.35% of the Québec marine environment, i.e. 1,957 km2.
- Since 2011, the approaches taken by the MDDELCC and regional stakeholders to determine territories that need to be protected have helped identify more than 100 new proposed protected areas to study in order to help Québec reach its goals.
Related links:
- The Québec Economic Plan, March 2018:
http://www.budget.finances.gouv.qc.ca/budget/2018-2019/en/documents/EconomicPlan_1819.pdf - 2018–2019 Expenditure Budget:
http://www.tresor.gouv.qc.ca