Essipit First Nation in Quebec wants to double its protected area by 2030 in line with UN targets

Michael Ross says protecting the land is part of his nation's DNA.

Growing up in the Innu First Nation of Essipit, 150 kilometres east of Saguenay, Que., the community's director of development and territory says caring for the land nestled along the St. Lawrence River was instilled in members of the community by their elders and parents.

But on Thursday, the council of the First Nation took it a step further, making public Essipiunnu-meshkanau, a proposal  that would more than double their protected area over the next seven years.

By 2030, Essipit aims to have protected 30 per cent of its territory, in line with international targets set at COP 15 in Montreal last year.

He says they hope to protect the 1,202 square kilometres of land from being developed by 2025. The protected area, which would cut across the Côte-Nord and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean regions, would have several interlinked conservation cores. It would also be connected to existing protected areas, such as the Sainte-Marguerite River Valley Biodiversity Reserve.

Ross says this project is a good first step.

"When we talk about sustainable development, we feel that it's been kind of one-sided for the last 20, 30, [even] 40 years," said Ross.

"We want to make sure that we have a say on our land and a say on what's going on because we're the ones that are on it and we're the ones that are experiencing all the development as well."

He says Essipit is working closely with neighbouring communities who share some of the endangered species they're hoping to protect.

"What's special about the area that we're trying to protect is it's really high ground which is a relatively rare area in Quebec. So it's high plateaus and high peaks, which is great habitat for woodland caribou, for Barrow's goldeneye, Bicknell's thrush, which are three species that are currently threatened," said Ross.

"Right now we're seeing our territory being degraded."

Originally inspired by the COP 15 targets set by negotiators in Montreal aiming to halt the destruction of nature, he says his community has a long way to go considering they currently only have 12.6 per cent of their territory protected.

Ross hopes to see more preservation of the territory in the southern half of Quebec.

"Nothing against the communities that live up north, they're lucky to have a lot of protected areas, but we want to make sure that our First Nation benefits from those protected areas as well, even though there's a lot more industry down south," said Ross.