Odanak Territory
THE MUNICIPALITY
The Commune is a wooded area of approximately 60 hectares in the Odanak community, close to residential areas. It includes an exceptional forest ecosystem (32 hectares) as well as a plantation of diverse tree species (25 hectares), planted following the 1990 windthrow. It provides game for hunting and trapping, wood for crafts, plants for medicine and food, and the entire area serves as a space for outdoor walks on foot or by ATV. The Tolba Trail runs through and protects this exceptional forest area.
The Commune overlooks the Saint-François River, and the plant species that thrive there are highly diverse, as forest ecosystems, wetlands, and several transition zones coexist, hosting both common plant species and more specialised or even extremophile ones (e.g., hygrophilous, acidophilous, etc.). In addition, the three marshes of the Commune are home to significant populations of painted and snapping turtles, freshwater mussels, beavers, and muskrats. The marshes also provide prime habitat for birdlife, including the wood duck and the great egret.
THE SAINT-FRANÇOIS ESTATE AND THE PIERREVILLE ESTATE
These two estates are located outside the core of the community. These areas are not easily accessible and are sparsely developed. They therefore have a high degree of preservation, making the forests and wetlands in these areas important as they contain some of the few remaining intact environments within the region’s vast agricultural territory. The wetlands scattered with mossy hummocks found here are, among other things, a preferred habitat for the four-toed salamander, a species likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable.
These two estates are located outside the core of the community. These areas are not easily accessible and are sparsely developed. They therefore have a high degree of preservation, making the forests and wetlands in these areas important as they contain some of the few remaining intact environments within the region’s vast agricultural territory. The wetlands scattered with mossy hummocks found here are, among other things, a preferred habitat for the four-toed salamander, a species likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable.
The ancestral territory of the Waban-Aki Nation (the N’dakinna) extends approximately from Rivière-du-Loup to the Richelieu River (east–west boundaries) and from the Saint Lawrence River to Boston for the north–south boundaries. Research is underway to better define this territory and to trace the history of past population movements and the fate of the various peoples who once formed the great Waban-Aki Nation, in order to understand what happened to these peoples and the transformations the territory has undergone.
RONDE ISLAND
This island, located in the middle of the Saint-François River a few kilometres downstream from the community, was identified as an exceptional site by the Conseil régional de l’environnement du Centre-du-Québec (CRECQ) in 2007. The very rich biodiversity of Ronde Island has been confirmed, as well as its impressive rare forest, whose composition is similar to the forest that once characterised the region. A stand of butternut, an endangered tree species, is found on the island. The quality of these specimens encourages research into the restoration and maintenance of this population, in accordance with the guidelines of experts from the Canadian Forest Service.