The Town of Rosemère is proud to announce that it has joined the Corridor forestier du Grand Coteau (CFGC) committee, in order to contribute, along with its partner municipalities and MRCs, to a common vision for the conservation and development of this outstanding natural heritage. This decision follows a resolution adopted at the Town Council meeting on February 14.
"The protection of natural environments is one of Rosemère's main environmental priorities and is strongly rooted in our planning program. Moreover, our recent acquisition of 13.2 hectares of the Grand Coteau forest demonstrates our commitment to preserving green spaces with high ecological potential, which are also largely beneficial to our residents' quality of life. Our initiatives are fully in line with the shared vision of the municipalities and MRCs that are members of the Corridor forestier du Grand Coteau committee. In this way, Rosemère is committed to implementing, over the next few years, sustainable actions that will enable it to reconcile its forest conservation efforts with the development of trails accessible to residents," explained Eric Westram, Mayor of Rosemère.
Caroline Dufour, Land Development and Sustainable Land Management Advisor, will represent the Town of Rosemère on the committee. By joining the committee, the Town recognizes the importance of taking joint action with the other participating municipalities and MRCs to implement regional actions to manage and connect natural environments in the Corridor's forest, agricultural and urban zones. These actions include the protection of forest environments, sustainable development, the preservation of outstanding ecosystems, the strengthening of forest links and the urban canopy of the territory.
In addition to Rosemère, the other members of the committee are the municipalities of Blainville, Mirabel, Lorraine, Mascouche, Repentigny, Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines and Terrebonne as well as the MRCs of L'Assomption and Les Moulins. The organization Nature-Action Québec and 12 other partners are also taking part in this vast mobilizing project to protect and develop the Corridor.
Conservation of this biodiversity heartland yields many social, ecological and economic advantages and is a major issue for the movement and migration of species in a context of landscape fragmentation and global change.
This ambitious project to protect and develop the Corridor forestier du Grand Coteau will benefit present and future generations throughout the Greater Montréal area. By joining the committee, Rosemère also recognizes that the Corridor is an "essential structuring entity of the Ceinture et Trame verte et bleue du Grand Montréal (Green and blue belt of Greater Montréal)".
Acquiring the last remaining woodlands in the forest and applying for recognition as an agglomerated nature reserve
The Town is currently pursuing its efforts to acquire the last remaining private woodlands of the Grand Coteau forest—i.e., two lots totalling nearly 7 hectares. These lots are bordered to the west by the 12-hectare Grand Coteau forest nature reserve (Nature Conservancy of Canada) and to the east by 13 hectares of land that the Town has recently acquired and for which it has applied for nature reserve recognition. The Town's environmental project would ultimately create a 32-hectare agglomerated nature reserve, permanently protected from real estate development.
Once this recognition is obtained, Rosemère plans to establish an accessibility strategy and a development plan in order to control the use of the sites, to raise public awareness of environmental protection and to develop infrastructures that will help minimize impacts on the natural environment.
