New Brunswick and Quebec Restigouche Conservation Groups to Gather in Campbellton
Fredericton – The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is bringing groups and government representatives from Quebec and New Brunswick together on April 7th in Campbellton to explore ways they can work together to conserve Restigouche forests and rivers.
At the CPAWS-organized workshop called Collaborating for Restigouche Conservation, groups and agencies that have a primary mandate to work on forest, river and fish and wildlife conservation in the Restigouche region will be discussing a potential plan of action.
Roberta Clowater, Executive Director or the New Brunswick chapter of CPAWS, explains, “We hope that we will be able to work together and develop an action plan for promoting increased conservation designations on public land, and joint publicity to promote nature-based tourism opportunities in the region. We understand the important economic role of salmon angling and ecotourism – together they bring in over $11 million to the region, and support over 375 jobs each year. We now need to share this information far and wide, so economic developers and governments realize that protecting these natural values makes economic sense.”
“We believe that both provinces need to do a better job of conserving the natural areas that are the backbone of the regional tourism economy. Also, the international marketplace now demands environmentally responsible forest products, and we need to protect wildlife and habitats to prove sustainability to buyers of forest products,” adds Patrick Nadeau, Executive Director of the Quebec chapter of CPAWS.
CPAWS New Brunswick and CPAWS Quebec hope that the workshop will result in more coordinated conservation projects, and provide a stronger collective voice for increased conservation of the region’s public lands, waters and wildlife. “We want to promote conservation measures and a sustainable economic development plan to ensure that for generations to come, people will be able to enjoy the natural beauty of the Restigouche, and its clean waters, wildlife and fresh air,” adds Clowater.
