The government's new land-use planning guidelines (OGAT), a step forward in sustainable land-use planning

Visit new OGAT unveiled by the Quebec government represent a significant step forward for the sustainable development of Quebec's territory. These government orientations represent the objectives pursued by the government in land-use planning, and dictate the course of action for all MRCs, local municipalities and metropolitan communities, in line with the issues they face.

Out of 9 orientations, 5 are directly linked to natural environments

Among the nine orientations, five directly address issues related to the natural environment and address Habitat's main concerns, particularly with regard to combating and adapting to climate change, conserving biodiversity, ecological connectivity and controlling urban expansion on natural and agricultural land.  

By giving environmental considerations pride of place in its new OGATs, the Quebec government is sending out a strong signal about the importance that must be attached to natural ecosystems in land-use planning efforts.  

Habitat also highlights the introduction of a new monitoring system for Quebec land use planning at national, regional and metropolitan levels. Setting targets, choosing indicators and collecting and analyzing the data required by the monitoring system will require a great deal of work, but it is an essential and promising exercise to better understand our territories and better respond to the issues that are specific to them.  

Science as compass

To make this shift, MRCs will use science to identify their territory's vulnerabilities, the climate trends that will affect it, and the areas of resilience on which to focus.  

We look forward to working with RCMs to apply our scientific knowledge and innovative approaches to nature-based solutions.  

Our expertise in biodiversity and connectivity measurement, ecosystem services assessment, and sustainable management of urban and natural forests, is ideally suited to assist MRCs in the deployment of OGATs through the following services: 

• Identification of climate change risks (Expectation 1.1.1) 

• Mapping of natural environments and urban areas to identify areas of ecological interest and the risks affecting them (Expectation 2.1.1) 

• Prioritization of needs and identification of conservation targets (Expectation 2.1.2) 

• Identification of ecological corridors (Expectation 2.2.1) 

• Forest cover profile (Expectation 2.2.2) 

Some of our cutting-edge expertise, such as the biophysical and economic assessment of ecosystem services, can be used to enhance all aspects of natural environments, and ensure consistency between them.   

To explore collaboration opportunities with the Habitat team, contact us !