COP15: Adding monarch butterfly to endangered list could help preserve Technoparc wetlands, Guilbeault says

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The federal government hopes efforts to add the monarch butterfly to Canada’s endangered species list will help it preserve the nature-rich Technoparc near Trudeau airport, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Wednesday.

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Guilbeault said the federal government is “actively working” on the issue with the Aéroports de Montréal airport authority, municipalities and local groups.

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“We have launched consultations to include the monarch butterfly on the federal government’s endangered list,” Guilbeault said at a Montreal press conference linked to the United Nations COP15 biodiversity conference.

“That will give us extra powers to protect the habitat of butterflies, notably on federal land, including land under the administration of Aéroports de Montréal.”

The Technoparc is an ecologically sensitive area that includes wetlands and is home to 200 species of migratory birds, as well as a refuge for monarch butterflies and other at-risk pollinators.

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In October, Guilbeault said Ottawa was looking at integrating the Technoparc into a new urban national park.

This past summer, the airport authority razed thousands of milkweed plants that monarch butterflies rely on in the area. Last year, a sinkhole formed in the area during the construction of a tunnel for the REM rapid-transit system.

Guilbeault’s latest comments were made at a press conference at the Biosphere environment museum.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Ottawa will spend up to $800 million to support major Indigenous-led conservation projects in British Columbia, Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Some countries at COP15, including Canada, are pushing for an international commitment to preserve 30 per cent of the world’s land and water by 2030.

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At the press conference, a reporter asked Trudeau about demands that Ottawa preserve biodiversity in such urban areas as the Technoparc, instead of focusing on remote areas.

“We know that if we want to reach the 30-per-cent goal, we will have to do a lot more than what you’re seeing here,” he answered.

Trudeau said reaching the 30-per-cent goal will require many partnerships.

In addition to Indigenous communities, “we must work with other levels of governments, provinces and cities and we’re there to do the work. There are many projects that we’re looking at.”

He said the federal government will continue to be “aggressive” as it strives to expand conservation areas.

“We must conserve for future generations and we have to show an example to other countries of the world.”

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