The Quebec Approach to Drafting Conservation Plans for Rare Plants

Abstract: So far, 50 species of plants have been legally designated as Threatened or Vulnerable under the Quebec Act. The protection of all occurrences of these plants is not necessary, nor is it realistic considering that there are more than 1000 known populations of these 50 designated species. Conservation plans help us identify which combination of occurrences should be protected to ensure the survival of the species in the province. To determine that combination, we first prioritize the species using 12 different criteria. Based on their assigned rankings, species are then divided into three levels of priority which dictate the type of protection they will receive. For the high priority species, all occurrences are targeted by the conservation plan. For the medium priority species, the set of populations targeted include all high quality occurrences and must be representative of all physiographic complexes and habitat types occupied by the species. For the low priority species, only the species distribution representation criterion is retained. The conservation plans are dynamic and flexible: they are directly linked to the Quebec Conservation Data Centre in order to consider new data that arise. This flexibility also allows us to take advantage of opportunities to protect a given population of a species which may not initially have been selected based solely on biological considerations. Our conservation plans are very concrete and concise action plans. Our goal is to devote the larger part of our resources to the implementation of the plans and to concrete actions in the field rather than to produce a bulky document in the office