Technoparc shakeup brings hope to environmentalists
Change in leadership could save one of few wetlands on the island of Montreal
Environmentalists and animal lovers are cautiously optimistic that a sudden, city-ordered change in leadership at the St-Laurent Technoparc — as well as a diminutive heron and an endangered wood thrush — can help save the city’s top birding spot and one of the few wetlands on the island of Montreal.
Close to 100 birdwatchers bearing binoculars and long lenses came to the Technoparc, on the northern edge of the MontrealTrudeau airport, for the secondannual Good Friday Migration for the Birds of the Technoparc Wetlands on Friday morning. They were hoping to spot some of the many species recorded there, and send a message that development plans should be rethought.
“This is supposed to be a sustainable Eco-campus Hubert Reeves development project,” said Lisa Mintz of the Sauvons la falaise environmental group, gesturing to a forested sector of land organizers say will be developed in an ecologically sensitive way. Clean technology businesses that want a diverse environment are supposed to take up residence there.
Contractors have already built a dike to drain water out of the wetland, as well as a road and sewage systems. The REM light-rail line is slated to run through the property, underground.
“And it is being done in a way, I think, that is obscene. There is lots of empty space in the Technoparc property — why do you have to do this here?”
On Thursday, Mayor Valérie Plante announced the city would disband the non-profit organization that runs the Technoparc by the end of the year over “serious,” but undisclosed, concerns over its management flagged by the city’s auditor-general and comptroller general. The city will take over management and discontinue the $2.6 million in annual fees given to Technoparc Montréal.
Opposition parties accused the city of over-reacting. Alan DeSousa, the St-Laurent borough mayor, said the Technoparc is a crown jewel of Canadian industry that spurs economic development for Montreal.
Birders are hoping the city will be more open to calls for the creation of a protected natural space on the property.
In existence for 31 years, the Techno par cc om prises large swaths of forest and swamp lands set aside for industrial development, catering to companies specializing in aeronautics, life sciences and information technology. More than 75 firms and 7,000 employees are located there already, but much of the area remains undeveloped.
The land in and around the park is owned by the city, private developers and the federal government. The multitude of habitats attract a wide variety of birds. In one season, 172 different species were identified, the largest concentration on the island of Montreal.
“It’s much more diverse than Mount Royal, because the mountain doesn’t have wetlands, nor does it have prairie-type spaces,” said ornithologist Joël Coutu, who runs the Techno par c oise aux Facebook page to bring attention to the little-known space. He also gives regular birding walks through the properties.
“The fact that there are six varieties of birds of prey here, (including the Red-shouldered hawk, Cooper hawk, merlin and the northern harrier) who are at the top of the food chain are indicators of how rich an environment it is.”
Coyotes, foxes, beavers, rabbits and skunks also live there.
More importantly for conservationists, so does the threatened Least Bittern, one of the smallest species of herons, the only ones of their kind found in Montreal, and the wood thrush, recently pronounced endangered. Federal laws call for the protection of endangered species, which means the two small fowl could serve as a potent weapon in the fight for wetland preservation. But to date, ecologists say Environment Canada has not interceded.