Ecological connectivity in La Mauricie National Park

Parks Canada's report on conservation from 2018 to 2023

Conservation priority
Landscape-scale conservation
Location
La Mauricie National Park, Quebec

Parks Canada and its regional partners seek to better understand and connect the natural environments and ecological corridors in the greater park ecosystem of La Mauricie National Park.

This work will help stakeholders to prioritize important habitats for maintaining ecological connectivity, and to incorporate connectivity into future regional planning, improving the resilience of ecosystems in the Mauricie region to climate change. It will also help to improve the monitoring and evaluation of ecological connectivity projects throughout the region, and to assess the effectiveness of the projects implemented.

Project highlights

  • Modeled and evaluated the ecological connectivity in the greater park ecosystem
  • Developed an interactive map of the region’s ecological connectivity in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Conseil régional de l’environnement Mauricie
  • Involved dozens of collaborators
An aerial view of an expansive landscape of rolling forested hills in fall colours, surrounding a winding blue lake.

Changing seasons in La Mauricie National Park. Photo: Denis Masse/Parks Canada

Working together

An aerial view of a lake surrounded by dense green forested hills. The lake reflects sunlight peaking through clouds on the horizon.
La Mauricie National Park’s vast network of lakes and forests is home to abundant wildlife. Photo: Parks Canada

Parks Canada plays an important role in the Connectivité écologique Mauricie regional initiative. This initiative aims to improve the knowledge of the network of natural environments in the Mauricie region in order to protect biodiversity. To raise awareness, educate, and foster engagement among municipal and provincial governments, environmental non-governmental organizations, industry and Indigenous partners, Parks Canada collaborated in the organization of a series of workshops aimed at sharing regional knowledge of existing ecological corridors, potential connectivity, known barriers, and anticipated future impacts on ecological corridors. This workshop series was coordinated in collaboration with the Conseil régional de l’environnement Mauricie and supported by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Results

A narrow river winds through a lush wetland. Tall reeds and grasses line the riverbanks which are densely forested.
A network of rivers and wetlands criss-crosses the landscape of La Mauricie National Park. Photo: Jacques Pleau/Parks Canada

The first phase of this project (2020 to 2021) focused on theoretical modeling of the ecological corridors in the Mauricie region. The stakeholders identified strengths and weaknesses of the existing and potential ecological corridors in the region, laying the foundation for further investigation. This work was published as part of the Évaluation de la connectivité écologique et de la résilience des écosystèmes forestiers sur le territoire du parc national de la Mauricie (French only), which addressed the need to improve regional planning.

A map illustrating major wildlife movement corridors in the Mauricie region.
A 2023 map illustrating the major wildlife movement corridors in the Mauricie region. Source: Nature Conservancy of Canada and Parks Canada
Image description

A map shows a section of Quebec featuring rivers, lakes, and towns, north of the St. Lawrence River, around Trois-Rivières. The southern two-thirds of the Mauricie region is shown on the map outlined in black.

The map functions to highlight core areas and major corridors for wildlife movement.

To the left of the map is a side bar of text. The text includes the logo of Connectivité écologique Maurice, the map’s title Major corridors, a legend, and the map credits: An initiative of Environment Mauricie and Source – Nature Conservancy of Canada and Parks Canada Agency.

The legend explains the symbols used on the map. These symbols are:

  • red circles, indicating core areas
  • grey areas, indicating corridors

The map is overlayed with red circles and wide grey arrows that connect the red circles. Both are in a variety of sizes. The grey arrows point into some of the red circles and out of others. There are 12 red circles of various sizes on the map. They are primarily within the boundary of the Maurice region.

The largest red circle is positioned to the west of the Mauricie region. Two small red circles are also located outside of the Mauricie region, one at the southern edge of Lac Saint-Pierre and the other north of Rivière Sainte-Anne. The grey arrows mostly point northward deeper into the Mauricie region. Two grey arrows point toward the red circle west of the Mauricie region. Grey arrrows also point towards the other two red circles outside of the Mauricie region.

The second phase (2022-2023) refined this theoretical model. Regional stakeholders worked together to improve the model, drawing on the knowledge of regional actors and prioritizing the corridors identified in the model. The corridors were then analyzed for the anticipated impacts of regional development. In conjunction with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Conseil régional de l’environnement Mauricie, the collaborators created a map illustrating major wildlife movement corridors.

Awareness

A red fox carrying a small animal in its mouth walks across a snow-covered road which cuts through dense forest.
A red fox, captured by a remote video camera, roams the snowy landscape of La Mauricie National Park with its prey. Photo: Parks Canada

The project raised awareness among regional stakeholders of the importance of maintaining or restoring ecological connectivity to better link natural environments across the region. This collaborative effort will have a positive impact on the park’s ecosystems and on regional development planning. The project will help maintain or improve the natural movement of species and ecological processes within the landscape of La Mauricie National Park and its greater ecosystem.

A headshot photo of Lauréanne-Daneau.
“Over the past 4 years, several consultation workshops have been held, bringing together a large number of stakeholders curious about and interested in ecological corridors. As this strategy has a great impact on declining biodiversity, the Mauricie region is on the right track. These engaged people feel responsible for preserving existing habitats and are therefore good allies in protecting them from anthropogenic pressures.” [Translation]
—Lauréanne Daneau, Director General, le Conseil régional de l’environnement Mauricie

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