2.3 Hectares of the forest corridor to be protected

A step has been taken to protect the Chateauguay-Lery Forest Corridor, as the Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) recently purchased a 2.3-hectare lot.

Translation Amanda Bennett

Upon the same occasion, the CMM also announced that it intends to acquire 41 other lots because it recognizes their “great biological diversity and rich habitats”.

“This space includes five exceptional forest ecosystems, mature forest stands and twenty endangered plant species. In total, the CMM intends to protect over 350 ha with a view of making a metropolitan park at a later date,” says the CMM.

The newspaper requested additional details from the CMM and is awaiting a return. However, according to a resolution adopted by the CMM’s executive committee on October 27, 2022, it sought to acquire vacant lots. It has adopted a budget of no more than $12 million and will provide one third of the funding with the provincial and federal governments under programs.

A total of 82 cities are part of the CMM, including Chateauguay, Lery Mercier, Beauharnois and Saint-Isidore, and they pay a share each year.

Invited to react, the prefect of the MRC Roussillon, Christian Ouellette, welcomed the announcement, recalling that in 2021 the MRC launched in “a process to protect the Chateauguay-Lery metropolitan woodlands. It had called on the CMM to create ‘a protected area by acquiring private land located within this green corridor that is rich in biodiversity.

Guy Turcotte, spokesman for the SOS Fernand-Seguin organization, also said he was happy “that the project is moving forward, since it had been stalled for several years.

Protecting 30% of the natural environment

The CMM announced that it had acquired a lot in the Chateauguay-Lery Corridor as part of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15), which is in full swing in Montreal. The CMM adheres to the United Nations objectives to protect nature and counter the loss of biodiversity as well as achieve the goal of protecting 30% of the protected areas in Greater Montreal by 2030. It still has 7.7% to protect in order to reach that goal.

Among other projects underway to achieve its objective, the City of Laval will acquire 25 ha in the Saint-François woods and the City of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville will purchase 19 ha in the Sabourin woods, a sector where the habitat of the western chorus frog and wetlands of metropolitan interest are found.

The CMM wants to create a network of metropolitan parks with its municipal partners, notably through the acquisition and conversion of golf courses, including the old one in Candiac, so that the population has access to these green spaces.

Among the projects in the process of being realized is the establishment of the metropolitan agricultural park in Brossard.