Context
For more than twenty years, the Paix des Braves has sought to ensure long-term coexistence between forestry activities and the traditional practices of Cree communities. One of its cornerstones remains the establishment of forested areas of wildlife interest—commonly referred to as the 25% areas—which encompass one-quarter of the productive forest within each trapline. These areas are designed to ensure the protection of essential wildlife habitats (moose, marten, beaver, hare, fish, caribou, partridge) and to support the continuity of traditional land use.
To evaluate whether the provisions of the Agreement have been respected over the years, the Cree-Québec Forestry Board (CQFB) conducted an extensive geomatic analysis covering 451 blocks across various communities for the 2002–2023 period.
This study draws on forest data from annual intervention reports, ecoforest inventories, documented natural disturbances, and lidar data used to measure actual canopy height.
Project
The overall objective is to verify whether the requirements of section 3.10.5 of the Agreement have been respected for each block that forms the forested areas of wildlife interest, particularly regarding:
- the application of mosaic cutting;
- the harvesting rate;
- the maintenance of continuous forest corridors;
- the conservation of stands measuring 7 metres or more in height as well as forests over 90 years old.