Mont Bellevue nature preserve moving ahead
The joint project of the City of Sherbrooke and the Université de Sherbrooke to make a nature reserve on Mont Bellevue took another step forward last week. After a long concerted effort, the members of the Alliance for the Mont-bellevue Park Nature Reserve submitted the planning recommendations for the J.-S. Bourque sector to the owners.
From 2020 until 2022, a revitalization of the trail network will begin in this sector, involving the closure of illicit trails, the sustainable development of the pedestrian network and the development of a mountain bike link trail. The latter will link the mountain bike network on Mont Bellevue to alternative sites for non-competitive practice outside the future nature reserve.
A mobilization for summer 2020
In addition to the infrastructure work, students have been hired as field outreach workers through a pooling of resources from the City of Sherbrooke, the University of Sherbrooke and the Mont-bellevue Park Group (RPMB). Ecological integrity monitoring
Over the past year, an ecological integrity monitoring program was developed by a committee involving specialists and students from the University as well as experts from the City of Sherbrooke and the RPMB. This program will monitor the park’s ecological health over the long term and make corrective adjustments if necessary, while providing concrete learning experiences for students. The deployment of monitoring indicators in the field started last April.
Collaboration and consultation: the keys to success
“In this process of designating a nature reserve, the University wishes to protect this exceptional natural environment, but also to ensure a balance between the different uses of this territory, including teaching and research activities,” said Pierre Cossette, the Rector of the Université de Sherbrooke. “We are happy to see today that it is with these orientations that we are taking this new step.”
An “Urban dark sky place”
A process has also been started to have the nature reserve recognized as a starry sky oasis in an urban environment. To this end, the owners have mandated a research group on light pollution at the Cégep de Sherbrooke to oversee this aspect so that the future reserve will be recognized by the International Dark -Sky Association. One of the very first such urban starry sky oases in the world, this project will help promote the protection of the urban starry sky and highlight the commitment and efforts to combat light pollution deployed in the communities. The site will be developed so that the population can take advantage of the starry sky.