Among the features of Québec's twenty-five-year master plan for the development of its northern territory (the Plan Nord ), released on May 9, 2011, is the objective of setting aside no less than 50% of the land mass concerned for non-industrial purposes by 2035, in order to protect its environment and safeguard its biodiversity. The total area concerned measures a gigantic 600,000 sq. km. On August 12, the Québec Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Pierre Arcand, unveiled a Working Paper and launched a public consultation process designed to permit the gradual attainment of that objective, beginning in the next few years.
The Working Paper is called "The government's commitment to dedicate 50% of the territory of the Plan Nord to protecting the environment, safeguarding biodiversity and developing the natural heritage, as well as to various types of development that do not rely on industrial activities". The document is posted on the Ministry's website, with the English version at http://www.protegerlenord.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/index_en.htm .
The Working Paper contemplates creating "protected areas" covering at least 12% of the Plan Nord territory by 2015. These areas are legally designated expanses of land or water ensuring the protection and maintenance of biological diversity and of related natural and cultural resources. The remaining 38% of the land will be environmentally protected, with its biodiversity safeguarded, while allowing for various types of non-industrial development (e.g. tourism, ecotourism, hunting, fishing and trapping).
By 2020, at least 5% of the Plan Nord territory will be set aside as areas for conservation and non-industrial development. This entails reserving at least another 60,000 sq. km., in addition to the 12% of land already designated for creating protected areas. Implementing these measures will enable Québec to meet the 17% land conservation goal set by the Nagoya Protocol of October 2010 to the Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992. In addition, at least 12% of the "boreal forest blanket" (part of the boreal zone, containing softwood stands) is to be reserved for the creation of protected areas by 2015.
Ecological planning will identify areas to be set aside for conservation or non-industrial development, and greater ecological knowledge of the territory in question will be acquired. In 2020 and again in 2030, the Working Paper calls for Plan Nord partners to report on progress and establish new conservation targets, based on then-current knowledge, as the province moves towards the ultimate objective of protecting 50% of the land concerned by 2035. Enterprises and promoters of industrial activities or projects that result in the loss of biodiversity and ecological services will be required to implement environmental mitigation, restoration or compensation measures.
Only time will tell whether this planning and consultation process will succeed in reconciling the objectives of environmental protection and economic development in developing northern Québec.
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