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The ZIP Program – 15 Years of Dedication to the St. Lawrence River
"The arrival of the ZIP program, in 1993, was not an accident. It was simply something that had become necessary." That's the recollection of Albin Tremblay, federal co-chairman of the St. Lawrence Plan for a Sustainable Development, with regards to the beginnings of the most important network of community-based groups dedicated to saving the St. Lawrence.
Jean-Yves Roy echoes that opinion. Then Quebec co-chairman of the consultative committee on community involvement and awareness for the St. Lawrence Plan, he recalls that "after the first five years of the Quebec-Canada agreement on the St. Lawrence, we understood something extremely important: If we really wanted to make a difference for the river over the long term, it was going to require active involvement by every person, every family, and every community. That was the guiding principle to the creation of the ZIP program. We needed grassroots partners who would launch a movement for local responsibility, from one end of the river to the other."
Thus the 1993 initiative to support the implementation of a network ZIP committees all along the St. Lawrence. "ZIP" comes from "zones d’intervention prioritaire," a concept of ecological and social zoning for the riverbanks paired with a partnership and consultation structure that would let citizens, civil society and regular users commit to protecting the ecosystem of their zone and ensuring its sustainable development. Environment Canada has supported the network with funding since it began, in addition to providing technical and scientific help for completing projects in the Zip Program.
"It has worked really well," believes Mr. Roy. "The proof is that not only do these committees still exist 15 years down the road, but the network has expanded and, best of all, you can hardly keep track any more of all the great achievements of the local groups." Albin Tremblay also notes that the direct collaboration now established between government officials and these groups has led to a new pattern of action, one that has established what might be termed "the first communities of the St. Lawrence."
But, just like Jean-Yves Roy, Mr. Tremblay does not give all the credit to just the St. Lawrence Plan (formerly called St. Lawrence Vision 2000, or SLV 2000) for the rise of such a pattern. "The initiative came in part from environmental organizations, which had taken the lead a few years earlier."
In 1989, for example, the Union québécoise pour la conservation de la nature (UQCN – since renamed Nature Québec), in tandem with seven other organizations, set up a new program, called Stratégies Saint-Laurent (SSL), that would supply a community-based dimension to the government initiative of the St. Lawrence Plan. The objective was to promote the active participation of riverside communities in taking concrete steps towards restoring and enhancing the St. Lawrence. Sensitization, consensus building and mobilization were the watchwords of the day; and even then, the first ZIP committees were taking shape under the aegis of Stratégies Saint-Laurent, according to a sectioning plan worked out in collaboration with Environment Canada.
Thereafter it was a straightforward matter for SLV 2000 to recognize Stratégies Saint-Laurent as a preferential partner, in 1993, and, in that same moment, to create the ZIP Program. Ever since, the network of ZIP committees has continued to expand, with co-ordination from Stratégies Saint-Laurent as an independent, non-profit organization which receives support from the Quebec-Canada agreement on the St. Lawrence.
Indeed, the network developed so well that at the end of the second phase of the SLP, in 1998, ten ZIP committees were already active on the ground, busily implementing projects to restore, enhance and learn about the riverside environments. They were also highly engaged in raising awareness among local communities and, crucially, they acted as consensus builders and coordinators in their zones. At the end of the third five-year plan, there were 14 committees covering nearly all of the relevant territory. Only three sections of the St. Lawrence were still not represented in the network in 2008: the north end of the Gaspé Peninsula, Charlevoix, and the north region of the Montréal archipelago.
The Work Basis
"The basis of work carried out by the ZIP committees is the Ecological Rehabilitation Action Plan, or ERAP as we call it," explains Claude Martin, the chairman of Stratégies Saint-Laurent. Each committee has an ERAP by which to guide its actions. Every ERAP is the outcome of a process to ensure there are both scientific and democratic foundations for all actions taken.
At the start, the St. Lawrence Centre (an Environment Canada research body) provides the new ZIP committee with an environmental assessment on the river section in its territory. On the basis of this document, the committee organizes a public consultation to ascertain the concerns of the various interest groups, identify the important issues and establish on a local or regional scale the priorities needed to develop an Ecological Rehabilitation Action Plan and put it into effect thereafter.
All during this process, environmental groups, municipal officials, industrial representatives, river users and citizens are brought together to discuss and resolve the problems which affect their portion of the St. Lawrence. "The points of view often diverge, and it's quite an achievement when the committees can successfully encourage all these players to find a compromise to their positions," Claude Martin emphasizes.
To put their Ecological Rehabilitation Action Plans into effect, the ZIP committees have always had one important source of leverage: the Community Interaction Program (CIP), from the St. Lawrence Plan, which finances projects on the ground. All non-profit organizations can sign up for this program, but the ZIP committees are the ones which avail themselves of it most often.
"In fifteen years or so, the CIP has helped complete nearly 400 community-based projects along the St. Lawrence," notes Albin Tremblay. Thanks to a combination of ZIP committee expertise and the volunteer efforts they encourage, hundreds of kilometers of riverbank have been cleaned up, dozens of hectares of habitat have been restored, many observation infrastructures have been built, and many interpretation trails have been blazed – not to mention all the research which has been performed on flora and fauna, all the forums and workshops which have been held. It is estimated that around 200 000 hours of volunteer time have been given to these projects to date. Every dollar invested by SLP generates nearly three dollars of external investment.
Jean-Yves Roy believes that in addition to their direct impact on the St. Lawrence, these projects have helped to keep people actively motivated in the ZIP committees. And, in many cases, it's thanks to them that new groups are created and manage to take root.
As for Nicolas Audet, the general manager of Stratégies Saint-Laurent, he is convinced that people would have a less clean and less accessible river today if it had not been for the ZIP committees: "By gathering the different players around the consultation tables and mobilizing citizens around real projects, the committees not only influence the population, but key stakeholders such as local officials, who are more and more conscious of the social, economic and environmental wealth provided by the St. Lawrence. Many municipalities have set up access to the river as a direct response to forums held by the ZIP committee for their territory."
Some Impressive Results
"Some highly complex, large-scale projects have led to some very impressive results," points out Claude Martin, the chairman of Stratégies Saint-Laurent. He cites successes like the Jacques-Cartier ZIP committee in sector 103 of the Montréal port area. For eight years, the committee hosted a consultation table attended by major oil companies, community-based groups and the general public with the goal of obtaining a consensus on how to decontaminate the sediments in this sector of the port. The result: a restoration project, implemented in 2007, which cost 10 million dollars – paid for entirely by Esso, Shell, Xstrata and the Montréal Port Authority. Around 42 000 m3 of contaminated sediments were dredged from the river, dried, then treated or relocated to high-security landfill sites.
"This project really is cause for celebration," says Mr. Martin, who also refers with pride to the new St. Lawrence Water Trail. This "blue road" is a long linear path designed for small craft on the river; many different ZIP committees worked together on the idea, each concentrating on its section of the trail. "This was a great example of networking and complementary teamwork," believes Nicolas Audet. "Under coordination from the Fédération québécoise du canot et du kayak, the committees did a great job on their small sections and helped this ambitious project get completed successfully."
Mr. Audet also emphasizes the crucial role of the ZIP committees with regards to the problem of riverbank erosion in marine areas. This is an urgent issue partly caused by climate change; it already represents a serious challenge for the people of the Gaspé and the North Shore. "The ZIP committees are building bridges between experts, local decision makers and citizens who are affected by the problem. They are working with a comprehensive understanding of the issues and seeking the best options for prevention and adaptation."
While continuing to promote the participation of citizens in real and tangible endeavours, the ZIP committees, in the years to come, will remain these essential unifiers of the various players and stakeholders in the matter of the St. Lawrence. Their role in consensus building will become even more important, now, as an Integrated Management project is being implemented over the entire territory by the St. Lawrence Plan for a Sustainable Development. The committees will likely become the pivots for this new form of governance in their respective regions, predicts Claude Martin. They will also have a crucial role to play as many new issues unfold -- such as the rising number of users on the St. Lawrence, and the accelerating impacts of climate change, to name two of the most salient.
In sum, the ZIP committees will not have much time to cool their heels. But taking a moment of time before continuing the journey, many will want to celebrate, in the summer of 2008, the fifteen-year anniversary of the program, which has proved so effective at getting local people and organizations to work in concert with the public sector. Photo contests, interpretation trips to the marshes, fun-filled beach sweeps and many other great activities will be taking place up and down the river.
It's a great opportunity for people to look back with satisfaction at the progress that's been made – and to look forward to another fifteen years of successful collaboration.
Date modified: 2008/06/19 – Important Notices
