Protecting southern Quebec's last wild watershed

Excerpt

Southwestern Quebec lies between the boreal forest to the north and the Ottawa River in the west and in the south. Its mixed and deciduous forests are high in biodiversity but are virtually unprotected. At risk is the fate of the Dumoine—the only intact watershed left in western Quebec. The Dumoine River watershed is home to a representative sample of native wildlife, as well as the largest remnant of intact southern boreal forest in the province of Quebec. It represents a wealth of soil, water, and other important natural resources.

The Ottawa Valley and Quebec Chapters of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) have been working to turn the government of Quebec's neglect of this important wilderness-protection opportunity into action.

The proposed protected area would be a significant stepping stone between the boreal forest and Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park in the Saint-Lawrence Lowlands. This particular linkage is part of a much broader conservation initiative, the Algonquin to Adirondacks or A2A link between Adirondack State Park in northern New York and Algonquin Park. In this era of climate change, it is widely known that corridors of connectivity between protected areas (at the landscape level) are essential for species to migrate …