The federal government is planning to invest $400,000 over the next four years to boost biodiversity and protect wildlife in the Mille-îles River and along its banks in Laval, Que.
The funding is part of a long-term plan to protect dozens of endangered species and boost the ecosystem.
”We need to do as much as we can if we want to protect biodiversity,” said Anaïs Boutin, the director of Éco-Nature, a conservation group that’s part of the Mille-îles River Park.
Boutin told Global News that protecting the ecosystem of the river and its shorelines plays a vital role to help wildlife flourish.
”It’s an issue for us to make sure the water is the best quality for us humans but for the wildlife also,” Boutin said.
Preserving the local ecosystem is part of a larger plan in the ongoing effort to clean up the river.
”What we want is a balance between protecting what’s left of the natural landscape on the river and having this place where we can enjoy nature,” Stéphane Boyer, the Mayor of Laval, told Global News.
The city opened its first public beach on the river last year and it’s investing large sums of money to capture untreated wastewater that often flows into the river following major rain storms.
”It is a big challenge,” he said.
But investing at the local level to further clean up the river combined with federal funds to improve biodiversity should help improve the ecosystem that everyone can enjoy.