Joliette, November 14th, 2024 – ALUS Lanaudière is the latest Quebec community to join the ALUS network. The new community celebrates its official inauguration with a launch day at the Briho-Bel farm in Saint-Jacques.
Inaugurated in 2024, the ALUS Lanaudière community already boasts 4.79 hectares of projects. These include 19 windbreaks, 7 riparian buffer strips and 11 nesting boxes. Attendees at the official inauguration event were able to visit a newly planted windbreak on the farm of Jérémie Brisson, owner of Briho-Bel Farm.
ALUS Lanaudière began its activities in 2024 with the establishment of a Partnership Advisory Committee (PAC) made up mainly of local agricultural producers. The community was set up with the support of MAPAQ (ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec). It is a partnership between ALUS Canada and the Fédération de l’UPA de Lanaudière (FUPAL) that aims to support and reward agricultural producers who reduce their environmental footprint by voluntarily developing their land.
ALUS Lanaudière supports various types of ecological projects on marginal and ecologically sensitive farmland in the region, in line with local agri-environmental priorities to provide more biodiversity and habitat for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.
Reforestation, pollinator-friendly meadows and adapted agriculture projects are aimed at improving the environment and quality of life for Lanaudière residents. ALUS Lanaudière is helping to achieve local objectives to optimize water and air quality, wildlife habitats and other ecosystem services, thereby improving the health and conservation of agricultural soils. By 2025, ALUS Lanaudière aims to cover a total area of 10 hectares, equivalent to almost 20 soccer fields.
The Lanaudière region is made up of six regional county municipalities (MRCs), 57 local municipalities, 12 unorganized territories and Indigenous land. It covers an area of just over 13,500 square kilometers and has a population of nearly 600,000 residents.
The region also includes nearly 1,600 farms. Its agricultural zone covers an area of 206,000 ha, or 16.7% of the region’s total area. Of this area, 55% is cultivated, or 113,000 ha.
Lanaudière’s agricultural industry plays an important role in the region’s economy and stands out for the diversity of its production and products. The region’s producers are mainly involved in cereal, dairy, poultry, pork and horticultural production.
About the Union des producteurs agricoles
The Fédération de l’UPA de Lanaudière is a professional trade union that advocates for the values of respect for the individual, and further bases its mission on values of solidarity, collective action, social justice, equity and democracy. In keeping with these values, the Fédération de l’UPA de Lanaudière contributes to the continuous and sustainable improvement of the quality of life of all agricultural and forestry producers in Lanaudière. The UPA’s mission is to promote, defend and develop the professional, economic and social interests of agricultural and forestry producers.
About ALUS
ALUS is a charitable organization that envisions a future where all farmers and ranchers produce ecosystem services from nature-based solutions alongside food and fibre to help solve the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Through its turn-key farmer-led, community-delivered program, ALUS supports more than 430 community leaders across 39 ALUS communities in helping over 1,700 farmers and ranchers build and actively manage 52,000+ acres of nature-based projects. These projects, like wetlands, grasslands and tree and shrub plantings, help capture carbon, keep lakes, rivers and streams clean, provide food and shelter for wildlife, and better prepare communities for extreme weather events like flood and drought.
ALUS helps governments, businesses and philanthropic foundations invest in Nature & Climate Solutions on agricultural land to generate positive environmental, economic and social outcomes in the communities where they operate—one acre at a time.
Source and information
Valérie Audet
Agro-environmental Technician
450 753-7486, ext. 260
[email protected]
Nadine Mercure
Senior Director, Communications / Head of Development, Quebec
[email protected]
