Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park

Saguenay St. Lawrence Marine Park Management Framework

The Physical Boundaries of the Marine Park

The Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park covers the entire bed of the Saguenay River from Cap à l'Est downstream, as well as the northern half of the St. Lawrence Estuary located between Gros Cap à l'Aigle upstream to Pointe-Rouge (Les Escoumins) downstream. The shoreline limit is determined by the high water mark (excluding flooding). This area comprises a total of 1,245 km2 (see the Appendix for a map of the boundaries of the Marine Park).

The following are not included in the Park:

• AIl property not belonging to the Quebec government;
• All marine infrastructures, including wharves, marinas, the Prince Shoal lighthouse, and a 25-metre strip around all marine facilities not sitting on shoreline and submerged land lots, that is, lots on the beds of the Saguenay and St. Lawrence rivers;
• AIl islands.

The area currently planned for the Marine Park includes a representative portion of the marine environment of the Saguenay Fjord and St. Lawrence Estuary. Legislation establishing the Park will most likely contain provisions permit- ting adjustments to the Park's boundaries. The public will once again be consulted should it become necessary to modify these boundaries.

The Park is located in an open ecosystem, within a vast hydrographic network. Therefore, the only logical solution is to adopt a concept that encourages resource protection and enhancement beyond the stated Park boundaries.

The Co-ordination Zone

Municipalities bordering on the Marine Park as well as several others upstream from the Saguenay Fjord and on the south shore of the St. Lawrence Estuary have been targeted for active participation in conservation, education, and development activities related to the Marine Park. To co-ordinate the activities of all participants from riverfront communities, the two governments plan to establish innovative forms of partnership that encourage participation by communities and organizations with an interest in protecting and enhancing this marine environment.

The social, economic and environmental dynamics of regions surrounding the Park already centre largely on the tourism industry and open air activities in a high-quality, natural setting. A number of such activities and services are already available from local promoters and organizations. A Co-ordination Zone, which includes the Marine Park and its surrounding region, is being established to serve as a focus for actions taken by the two governments, in co-operation with community partners, to protect and enhance the Marine Park.

ln addition to the Park itself, which is made up exclusively of a marine environment, the Co-ordination Zone comprises the area along the Saguenay River between Chicoutimi upstream and Tadoussac downstream, including all municipalities bordering the Fjord. On the north shore of the St. Lawrence, the Zone extends from Saint-Fidèle-de-Mont-Murray upstream to Les Escoumins downstream, including the Montagnais Essipit community. On the south shore, the Zone includes municipalities bordering the estuary between Kamouraska and Trois-Pistoles.

The Co-ordinating Committee

ln order to support and maintain the management and development of the Park, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Faune have elaborated a co-ordinating structure involving the federal and provincial governments, regional organizations and the Montagnais Essipit Band Council. This co-ordinating structure will be integrated into the new legislation.

The formation of the co-ordinating structure does not impair the imputability of those that are part of it. It allows for concertation and encourages harmonization of efforts by partners to avoid overlapping.

The Co-ordinating Committee for the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park with act in the following areas:

• Protection of marine resources and ecosystems;
• Education and interpretation;
• Visitor reception and orientation;
• Development of the Park and its resources; -Marketing and promotion of the Marine Park;
• Regional integration;
• Studies and research related to park management;
• Orientations and park management strategies;
• Protection of sites and Amerindian cultural resources.

The Co-ordinating Committee's mandate is to ensure follow-up of the Management Plan and to counsel the ministers responsible for the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park on the strategies and methods necessary to attain general and specific goals defined in the Plan. More specifically, the Committee will:

• Ensure that goals for the protection of natural and cultural resources for the park will be reached;
• Encourage preservation of the diversity of cultural resources in the co-ordination area of the Park;
• Harmonize and ensure follow-up of respective interventions of each part for the installation of structures, services and activities in a spirit of co-operation;
• Define methods of sharing facilities and equipment in place, to be built or to be implemented;
• Co-ordinate annual and multiyear operational plans for the activities and services of the Marine Park;
• Recommend changes to the boundaries, development plan and legislative measures and regulations which have created the Marine Park;
• Participate in, and if need be, co-ordinate the elaboration of cases related to a concerted action within the co-ordination area;
• Produce and publish an annual report presenting the results of work done by the Co-ordinating Committee.

To ensure that all the municipalities and partners in the co-ordination area are represented, the Committee will be composed of the following:

• One representative from each of the three Regional County Municipalities touched by the Marine Park on the north shore (Charlevoix-Est, Fjord-du-Saguenay, Haute-Côte-Nord). Only one representative from the south shore will be chosen by the three Regional County Municipalities involved (Rivière-du-Loup, Les Basques and Kamouraska);
• One representative from the Aboriginal community to be designated by the Montagnais Essipit Band Council;
• One representative from the scientific community to be chosen by the ministries;
• One representative from the groups concerned with conservation and protection of natural resources, as well as education and interpretation of the natural environment, designated by these groups;
• One representative from the Department of Canadian Heritage;
• One representative from the Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Faune.

The Co-ordinating Committee establishes its own methods of functioning. Its members work together for all activities or subjects of general interest for the Marine Park (for example, planning, promoting, preparing a calendar of activities, etc.) Furthermore, all decisions taken by the Co-ordinating Committee must be unanimously approved by the members present. ln case of disagreement, the proposed issue must be discussed with the ministers.

The Committee receives all projects related to the Marine Park and supports these if they meet the goals of the Management Plan. Representatives from the Amerindian Community will give advice on projects that have or might have repercussions on Amerindian culture or historical sites, before they are carried out.

Advisory committees win be created by the Co-ordinating Committee to clearly define the key uses associated to the Committee's platform of intervention and to assist it, when needed, in the elaboration of various projects for which it is responsible. For Amerindian issues, an advisory committee made up of Amerindians will assist the Co-ordinating Committee in the co-ordination and elaboration of various projects for which it is responsible.

Furthermore, two representatives from the Co-ordinating Committee, of which one is the Amerindian representative, may participate in, and monitor the activities of each advisory committee.

The Contribution of the Montagnais Essipit Community

On several occasions during the planning process conducted by the two governments, the Montagnais Essipit Band Council expressed its concerns and interests with respect to the development, management and co-ordination structure of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park.

The eastern boundary of the Marine Park borders on the Montagnais Essipit community. The culture of this community, which serves as a reminder that Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area for more than 6,000 years, is a major asset to the Park.

The Montagnais Essipit now participate actively in the social, cultural and economic life of the region they inhabit. They engage in a variety of activities, some of which involve traditional pursuits. These pursuits, as well as ancestral rights and land claims, are currently being discussed at a Central Table that includes all interested government agencies and Aboriginal groups. The agreements reached at this Central

Table will take precedence over any legislation establishing the Marine Park and any regulations promulgated in consequence. The provisions of the Management Plan that concern the Montagnais are intended neither to negate nor to confirm this community's rights.

It is also understood that the development concept for the Marine Park, as well as any implementation of this concept, must recognize that the Montagnais community has an essential role to play in receiving visitors, namely to bear witness to the long-standing Aboriginal presence, provide a glimpse of the contemporary Aboriginal way of life and assert the community's outlook on the future.