(Montreal) The Advisory Committee on Threatened or Vulnerable Wildlife Species in Quebec will resume its work after five years of inactivity, Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette announced this weekend.
The group studies animals that are already on the list of species likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable and recommends that the government grant them this status.
“The last meeting dates back to 2017,” said Mr. Charette in a telephone interview. The last time species were added was in 2009, under the Liberal government of Jean Charest.
Three new members have been added to fill the vacant seats on the committee: professor of terrestrial ecology at the University of Sherbrooke Fanie Pelletier, researcher in animal ecology Joanie Van de Walle and researcher at the Laurentian Forestry Center Christian Hébert.
This is a promise that Minister Charette made in December, a few days before COP15 was held in Montreal. He also announced that 27 species would soon be added to the list, which is still in progress.
Nature Quebec president Louise Gratton called the committee’s return “great news.” ” It was time ! “, she exclaimed in a telephone interview, recalling that only 38 animals have the status of vulnerable or threatened species.
Threatened species, whose disappearance is feared, include fish such as the copper redhorse, birds such as the piping plover and mammals such as mountain caribou and beluga whales. Vulnerable species, whose survival is considered precarious, but whose disappearance is not feared in the short term, include the polar bear, the western chorus frog and the golden eagle.
Ms Gratton said she hopes “it will go pretty smoothly”, as 115 species await their turn to be assessed.
“Last December, we were able to update the list, which had not been done for some time,” said Minister Charette. There, we will let the members of the committee work, but we can expect that there will be an update of this list in the coming months. »
