{"id":33206,"date":"2022-05-04T17:21:21","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T21:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/?p=33206"},"modified":"2023-04-07T13:11:27","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T17:11:27","slug":"milieux-humides-proteges-cmm-saint-donat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/milieux-humides-proteges-cmm-saint-donat\/","title":{"rendered":"Protected wetlands: the CMM, an example to follow for Saint-Donat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM) adopted on April 28, 2022 a regulation<\/a> visant \u00e0 prot\u00e9ger plusieurs milieux naturels de son territoire, incluant des milieux humides. \u00c0\u00a0un jet de pierre du territoire de la CMM, la municipalit\u00e9 de Saint-Donat brille par son incoh\u00e9rence en autorisant le projet de d\u00e9veloppement immobilier Black Mountain Domain<\/a>, damaging fragile natural environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Warning: An update exists here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Domaine de la Montagne Noire in Saint-Donat: a cross on naturalness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Au nord de la CMM, la ville de Saint-Donat se targue d\u2019\u00eatre un \u00ab\u00a0parc naturel habit\u00e9\u00a0\u00bb. Le \u00ab\u00a0naturel\u00a0\u00bb en a pris un coup lorsque le conseil municipal a donn\u00e9 son aval au projet de vill\u00e9giature du Domaine de la Montagne Noire et ce, malgr\u00e9 la vive opposition des citoyens et citoyennes et la petition<\/a> ayant r\u00e9colt\u00e9 plus de 5\u00a0000 signatures. Alert\u00e9s par l\u2019Association for the Protection of the Environment of Lake Archambault (APELA)<\/a>, we sent a letter to the municipal council on April 11, in which we also raised our concerns about the impacts of the project on the integrity of the lake's wetlands and water environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Credit: Domaine de la Montagne Noire<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Erosion, eutrophication and habitat destruction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to information provided to us by citizens of Saint-Donat, development work on the Domaine de la Montagne Noire has already led to the erosion of fine sediments in the wetlands at the head of Lake Archambault. These sediments will most likely end up in the lake.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also recognized that real estate development near lakes increases the concentration of nutrients contained in sediments and, in general, accelerates theeutrophication<\/a>, that is to say the accelerated aging of these bodies of water. Based on available information, there is also a marked risk to the health of the lake by continuing construction and development in this sensitive environment. What's more, the Domaine de la Montagne Noire project risks leading to the destruction of a bank swallow nesting site<\/a>, a protected species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Carte
Map of projected conservation priorities \u2013 MRC Matawinie \u2013 PRMHH<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Legal, but legitimate?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this type of situation (still) occurs legally, is it legitimate? The MRC of Matawinie, which includes Saint-Donat, has established conservation priorities<\/a>* projected in terms of wetlands. The municipality has authorized backfilling work to Gestion Zalehan, whose owner is the same as Domaine de la Montagne Noire, on a lot identified as a projected first priority zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MRC thus recognizes the ecological value of the sector concerned, but not the municipality, which instead decides to stick to current regulations. If the future is about preserving wetlands, why is it that Saint-Donat is not keeping pace?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Destruction of wetlands: a bill to bear<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u00c0 titre de rappel, les milieux humides ont de nombreux bienfaits. Alors qu\u2019on compare les arbres aux poumons de la plan\u00e8te, on pourrait dire que les milieux humides sont comparables aux reins : c\u2019est gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 ces filtres que les lacs et rivi\u00e8res se \u00ab purifient\u00a0\u00bb de leurs nutriments ind\u00e9sirables. Ils agissent aussi comme des \u00e9ponges et participent donc au contr\u00f4le des d\u00e9bits de ruissellement, \u00e0 la recharge des cours d\u2019eau et des nappes souterraines, ainsi qu’\u00e0 la diminution de l\u2019\u00e9rosion et de la s\u00e9dimentation gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 leur v\u00e9g\u00e9tation qui stabilise le sol.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The municipality of Saint-Donat says it recognizes on its website<\/a> the valuable roles of wetlands. Perhaps we should also remind him of the economic value associated with them, since this element seems so decisive for the council. It is estimated that one hectare of wetland is worth, in terms of goods and services provided, between 6,000 $ and 24,000 $<\/a>. We therefore understand that sooner or later we will have to pay for the replacement of these services that have disappeared.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Montagne Noire in Saint-Donat attracts many visitors. Credit: audeladupaysage.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A strong decision from the CMM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

L\u2019\u00e9quipe de Fondation Rivi\u00e8re salue parall\u00e8lement la mesure de conservation adopt\u00e9e par la CMM, qui s\u2019ajoute \u00e0 celle d\u00e9j\u00e0 pr\u00e9vue par le Plan m\u00e9tropolitain d\u2019am\u00e9nagement et de d\u00e9veloppement. Sera ainsi interdits \u00ab\u00a0toute construction, tout ouvrage, tous travaux ou toute activit\u00e9\u00a0\u00bb sur pr\u00e8s du quart (22,3 %) du territoire de la CMM. Le r\u00e8glement permettra par le fait m\u00eame de prot\u00e9ger l\u2019habitat de la rainette faux-grillon, une esp\u00e8ce menac\u00e9e. Ce frein \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9talement urbain risque d\u2019obliger la CMM \u00e0 revoir ses pratiques en mati\u00e8re d\u2019am\u00e9nagement, tout en poursuivant ses efforts de transition \u00e9cologique. Il s\u2019agit l\u00e0 d\u2019un exemple \u00e0 suivre pour toutes les municipalit\u00e9s du Qu\u00e9bec. Surtout pour l\u2019une d\u2019entre elles.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Conservation priorities are defined in the Regional Wetland and Water Plans (PRMHH). The PRMHH is a strategic reflection document which aims to integrate the conservation of wet and water environments (MHH) into land use planning, by promoting sustainable and structuring development. The submission of the PRMHH is planned for the summer of 2022. It will be adopted and then applied subsequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Warning: An update exists here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM) adopted a regulation on April 28, 2022 aimed at protecting several natural environments in its territory, including wetlands. However, a stone's throw from the territory of the CMM, the municipality of Saint-Donat stands out for its inconsistency in authorizing the Domaine de la Montagne Noire real estate development project, damaging fragile natural environments.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":33209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[13,60,66,69,80],"class_list":["post-33206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualites","tag-action-citoyenne","tag-lac-archambault","tag-milieux-humides","tag-mobilisation","tag-preservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}