In fact, 17% of the forest area within the urbanization perimeter is now affected by the development of the project (562 hectares out of 3249 hectares, spread over 50 forests), the city indicates.
These 562 hectares are divided into 30 real projects, ie, 5 industrial projects and 25 residential projects. This development site is still under study.
In these projects, the City has the real power of approval, the discretion of approval, named William Neveu, director of the City project.
“Not 562 hectares of land lost, but 562 hectares of interest. »
– Words from Guillaume Neveu, director of the city program
William Neveu, director of the City Council.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Three Solutions
For each of these projects, three reconciliation scenarios are possible: full, partial or no conservation.
Various analytical criteria are considered to guide the level of reconciliation, such as the presence of water or wetlands, the presence of wildlife or plants in protected areas, slopes, ecological qualities of forests, zoning in force and housing needs. and spaces of industry, make up the city.
If the city decides that the wooded area should be completely preserved, the developer will require building on the non-wooded part of the land.
Most of the projects will be partially preserved, according to William Neveu. No protection would be much rarer, he said.
Forest on the line of sight of the tramway
Forests affected by the tramway project are included in this inventory. But they are not counted among those who will be affected, since the labor office has already announced about the corrective measures.
“As part of the road plan, the city has decided to install its own machines.”
– Spoken by Guillaume Neveu, director of the city program
In the Chaudière region, where the center of tramway operations will be located, a forest area of 3.62 hectares (ha), or 36,247 square meters (m2), will be demolished to build a tramway garage. Two integral plots of 4.5 ha (45,000 m) will be preserved in the Chaudiere area.
The road operation and maintenance center will be built on rue Mendel, near the Le Gendre center and the IKEA store.
Photo: Credit: City of Quebec
The fate of Boisé Joinville, which is vehemently criticized by citizens, is not even included in the thirty or so projects affected.
In this case, the owner of the land was fully entitled to cut down part of the forest, answers Marie-Josée Asselin.
Councilor Marie-Josée Asselin (file photo).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Guillaume Croteau-Langevin
Definition of wild
A cross-party committee in charge of the case was formed from a number of elected officials.
The exercise, which lasted for a year, made it possible for the first time to find a definition of the forest. We have come a long way from the conception of the wild, which was ill-defined […]. We had to know what urban forests were, mentioned Marie-Josée Asselin, councilor of the Loretteville-Les-Châtels region and responsible for sustainable development and the environment in the executive plan.
Definition: A wood is a natural space covered with trees, geographically determined, located within the perimeter of the urbanization and having a minimum area of 0.5 hectares.
The forest must be slightly smaller than an American football field to count.
600 woods
The Forestry Committee concludes that 14% of the surface area of the urbanization perimeter (excluding water bodies) consists of forest areas (3,249 hectares out of 23,689 hectares). This area represents a total of 600 forests.
A Quebec forest.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Among them, 146 forests are inaccessible and disconnected from urban networks, including roads, sidewalks or calluses; 288 The bodies are accessible, but in private land; and another 166 are located in municipal parks. These wilderness areas are accessible to 59% of the population in less than 10 minutes on foot.
