Biodiversity in Québec

Among its priorities concerning Québec’s Sustainable Development Plan, the government has implemented on November 25, 2004 its Strategy and Action Plan on Biological Diversity 2004-2007.

The Strategy and the Action Plan on Biological Diversity are the outcome of a vast public consultation and an interministerial commitment aimed at promoting the preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Biological diversity, also referred to as biodiversity, is the term given to all the species and ecosystems that make up Planet Earth as well as the ecological processes of which they are a part. Biological diversity encompasses all that is living, including the variations created by genetic manipulation and selective breeding. This diversity forms the biosphere, that mix of organisms that makes it possible for human beings to exist on our little blue planet. Quebec is one of the biggest regions in North America, covering nearly 1.7 million square kilometres. This territory, which is three times bigger than France, is home to almost 40,000 wild plant and animal species, millions of domestic animals and a whole range of horticultural and agricultural crops. An inventory of Quebec's natural entities includes tundra, taiga, spruce and balsam fir forests, hardwood forests and the St. Lawrence River.

Protecting Québec’s biodiversity, a history of the process