Bird Protection Quebec "Monthly Lecture, Meeting"

Lecture – Designing Wildlife Corridors: Examples from the Northern Appalachians
With: Louise Gratton , founding member of The Appalachian Corridor and board member of Two Countries, One Forest and a long time Science Director of Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Monday, March 2, 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Kensington Presbyterian Church, 6225 Godfrey Ave., Montreal, NDG
Monday, January 5 - 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

The Northern Appalachians are one of the most intact temperate broadleaf forests in the world. However, well-established farms, increased second-home development, and new roads threaten to fragment this extraordinary region into a series of disconnected ecological islands. In 2008, Wildlands Network, Two Countries One Forest, The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society and other organizations identified a set of landscape linkages that are essential for regional-scale movement of wildlife and to maintain ecological processes between large blocks of habitat. A network of partners was convened to share information and mobilize action in those linkages. Two of these critical linkages are found in Quebec: The Northern Green Mountains and the Three Borders. Conserving and restoring connectivity is a challenging undertaking, but according to scientists it is the best way to mitigate the impacts of habitat fragmentation on wildlife populations and biodiversity.

Louise Gratton has an MSc in Biology from UQAM and 35 years experience working in ecology and conservation, including 12 as Science Director of Nature Conservancy Canada, Quebec region. She has worked with federal and provincial agencies, non-governmental organizations, municipalities, promoters, and landowners across Quebec. Louise is a founding member and acting secretary of the Appalachian Corridor and has been on the board of Two Countries, One Forest from its inception. Both organizations focus on the protection and sustainable development of the Northern Appalachians ecosystems. She has received several awards recognizing her commitment to biodiversity conservation.