Parks Canada's financial contribution will enable the Nature Conservancy of Canada to accelerate the protection of the corridor and further ensure ecological connectivity within the Gaspé Peninsula
May 17, 2023 Gaspé, Quebec Parks Canada
Protected areas must be linked to one another and form ecological networks to fully contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and the fight against the impacts of climate change.
Ecological corridors are therefore essential for the effective protection of flora and fauna. They allow plants to disperse and animals to move freely on the landscape to access ideal habitat for breeding, feeding, and living. They also make it possible for wildlife to avoid obstacles such as man-made infrastructures and development.
Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced a contribution of $2 million to support the Nature Conservancy of Canada in maintaining and improving the Forillon Ecological Corridor; a functional and adapted corridor that contributes to the needs of the region's current and future flora and fauna in the context of climate change.
This support will promote concrete actions aimed at the sustainable and integrated management of land development, the adoption of measures to conserve forest cover and the development of infrastructure and road rights-of-way to facilitate wildlife crossing. This ensures the functionality of the ecological corridor between Forillon National Park and the large forests at the heart of the Gaspé Peninsula.
This contribution, funded by Parks Canada's National Ecological Corridors Program, builds on other recent Government of Canada investments to protect natural heritage in Canada. In addition, the Nature Conservancy of Canada has committed $500,000 to the project.
Parks Canada's National Ecological Corridors Program is supported by the historic $2.3 billion investment in Canada's natural heritage announced in Budget 2021. Among other things, it enables jurisdictions and organizations to make better ecological connections between protected and conserved areas, and accelerates action to reduce biodiversity loss, protect ecosystems, and help Canada adapt to climate change.
