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Stratégies Saint-Laurent
A key player on the environmental scene
Stratégies Saint-Laurent is a well-known name to all those concerned about the well-being of the largest waterway in North America. For nearly 20 years, this organization (frequently known by its acronym SSL) has been involved in virtually all issues that concern the St. Lawrence. Through its members, the 14 ZIP committees (ZIP: zone d’intervention prioritaire [Area of prime concern]) in Quebec and a few non-governmental organizations (NGOs), it has a presence at the grassroots level and works with riverside communities in order to carry out concrete activities aimed at safeguarding the St. Lawrence River. SSL is also actively involved with several government organizations and is a key partner of the St. Lawrence Plan for Sustainable Development. It also has a mandate to closely monitor the major issues that affect the entire St. Lawrence. In short, if SSL did not exist, we would be missing a key player on the Quebec environmental scene.
Stratégies Saint-Laurent was established in 1989 at the initiative of seven environmental groups comprising an umbrella organization called the Union québécoise pour la conservation de la nature (UQCN – now called Nature Québec). Although at that time SSL was only one program within the UQCN, it was already working toward the goal of encouraging riverside communities to participate in concrete actions aimed at the rehabilitation and enhancement of the St. Lawrence. Since then, awareness, consultation and mobilization have been the focus of its action.
When SSL was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1994, it had just been recognized as a key government partner in the St. Lawrence Plan (SLP), for the community involvement component and the newly created ZIP program. “This was an important moment, since this recognition brought with it statutory funding for the organization and for the rapidly developing network of ZIP committees,” recalls SSL director Nicolas Audet.
Since then, Stratégies Saint-Laurent has worked tirelessly to support and consolidate this network, by providing the ZIP committees with tools, information and training to help them in their work with the public. SSL also serves as a clearinghouse for consultation and coordination among the committees, particularly within the network’s two major commissions (freshwater zone and marine zone), and it represents the network’s interests in dealings with governments.
An important link
“In fact, we are the link between the communities and government stakeholders. Since we sit on all the coordination committees of the St. Lawrence Plan, we bring to their attention the projects as well as the concerns of the ZIP committees and riverside communities. And vice versa, we inform the ZIP committees and communities of the goals and objectives of the government departments concerning the St. Lawrence. This is a way of putting into action both halves of the expression think globally, act locally,” explains the director.
One of the issues in which the SSL has been actively involved for some time, with both the St. Lawrence Plan and the ZIP committees, is the integrated management of the St. Lawrence (IMSL). Not only does the organization participate in the SLP working groups on this ambitious federal-provincial project, but it has developed a three-year training plan aimed at its members, with the goal of building their capacity to take action in their community, from the perspective of future integrated ecosystem management. SSL organized a discussion forum on this subject in 2004 and a number of committees are already well equipped to take on a major role in this project in their relations with regional stakeholders. Some will be applying the concept of integrated management on their territory shortly.
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Photos taken from the Rapport d'activités 2006-2007 of Stratégies Saint-Laurent |
Another important issue for Stratégies Saint-Laurent this year is the organization of a second forum on the St. Lawrence for the fall of 2008, like the one that was attended by 150 participants on the theme The St. Lawrence River – In Good Hands, held at Mont Sainte‑Anne in 2001. This event, which will be held in Trois‑Rivières, will focus on the issue of community participation. It will highlight both the 20th anniversary of the St. Lawrence Plan and the 15th anniversary of the ZIP program. In collaboration with SSL, the ZIP committees will also be holding various activities during the summer of 2008 to celebrate this 15th anniversary in their communities.
A high-profile presence
In addition to its discussion platforms with the ZIP committees and the St. Lawrence Plan, SSL participates in various ways in discussions on national issues that affect the St. Lawrence. Not only does it collaborate in a number of committees and commissions of various organizations, but it also attends the meetings of numerous groups involved in a wide variety of initiatives relating to the St. Lawrence. “When necessary, we make submissions to public hearings or commissions and we monitor the major issues that have an impact on the St. Lawrence, such as climate change, gas exploration in the Gulf, widening of the seaway, etc.,” explains Mr. Audet.
For the future, Stratégies Saint-Laurent is keen to complete its network of ZIP committees. Three areas currently do not have committees: the northern Gaspé Peninsula, Charlevoix and the northern Montreal archipelago. “In all three instances, the community is ready to be mobilized, especially in the Gaspé Peninsula, but there is a lack of funding. The budgets may be forthcoming with the implementation of integrated management, where the ZIP committees will be called on to play a major role,” points out the director.
In the meantime, the organization will continue to reflect on the vision that it adopted a few years ago: Remettre le Saint‑Laurent au monde. “Through our actions, we endeavour to put into practice both parts of this statement,” notes the director: “first, to contribute to a genuine renaissance of the St. Lawrence and, second, to give the river back to the people who live there… so that within 15, 20, 30 years, the St. Lawrence will increasingly be this rich aquatic environment that we all would like to see, with healthy plants and wildlife, a balanced ecosystem and accessible to the communities, recognized as a collective heritage to be protected and enhanced.”
For more information:
Nicolas Audet or Marie Lagier
Stratégies Saint‑Laurent
870 Avenue de Salaberry, Suite 204
Quebec City, Quebec
Tel.: 418-648‑8079
E-mail: info@strategiessl.qc.ca.
Web site: www.strategiessl.qc.ca.
Date modified: 2008/06/19 – Important Notices
