Laurentians ready to spend $6.5 million to protect wetlands
Saint-Jérôme, April 4, 2022 - A new study shows that the natural environments of the Rivière du Nord watershed in the Laurentians offer citizens numerous benefits, ecosystem services, whose economic value is estimated at $522.7 million per year. These environments help regulate the climate by storing and sequestering carbon, controlling erosion and pollutants, mitigating flooding and maintaining habitats for biodiversity.
Aware of the particularly important role of wetlands and the threats they face, the Laurentian population would be willing to contribute financially to their protection and restoration. Through a survey on the willingness to donate, the study gathered the opinions of 300 citizens on increasing wetland conservation efforts. The results show that citizens would be willing to donate $6.5 million per year, or an average of $40 per person, to wetland conservation in the region.
"These results show that there is a strong social demand for the protection, and even the restoration, of wetlands and water bodies, which offer many benefits to the region's inhabitants and are important for biodiversity," says Jérôme Dupras, professor and holder of the research chair in ecological economics at the Université du Québec en Outaouais.
According to the study, the natural environments of the North River catchment sequester 165,000 tonnes of carbon annually and constitute a carbon stock of more than 35 million tonnes. If these natural environments were destroyed, all the carbon currently stored would be released, equivalent to the emissions of 40 million cars for one year.
"The amount of carbon stored in wetlands is impressive and demonstrates the importance of these ecosystems in the fight against climate change, whether at the Laurentian, Quebec or Canadian level," adds Olivier Tanguy, project manager at Habitat.
The figures are also impressive when it comes to the contribution of natural environments to erosion control. Thanks to their vegetation cover, these environments help retain sediment and thus promote better water quality. The avoided costs of this service can be as high as $94 million per year.
"These data confirm the place of natural environments at the heart of the Laurentians' identity and the importance that residents of the region attach to them. The protection and restoration of the natural heritage must be put forward to the stakeholders," says Aurélie Charpentier, coordinator at Abrinord. This study could lead to initiatives such as a blue tax linked to the protection of environments that filter water pollutants or a funding programme for local conservation initiatives.
These results are from a recent study conducted by Habitat for Humanity in collaboration with the Canada Research Chair in Ecological Economics at the Université du Québec en Outaouais.
This project was made possible thanks to a contribution from the Programme de soutien régional aux enjeux de l'eau, linked to the 2018-2023 Action Plan of the Quebec Water Strategy, which deploys concrete measures to protect, use and manage water and aquatic environments in a responsible, integrated and sustainable manner.
