ALUS Outaouais started its activities in March 2021 and was officially launched in November 2021. The program is a partnership between ALUS and Fédération de l’UPA de Outaouais-Laurentides (FUPAOL).

In the southwestern region of Quebec, Outaouais is comprised of 5 regional county municipalities (RCM) and 67 local municipalities and covers an area of nearly 30,000 square kilometres. Outaouais is bordered by Ontario, Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the Laurentians and is mostly wooded and dotted with numerous hills, rivers and lakes.

Agriculture in the Outouais region is concentrated along the plains of the Ottawa and Gatineau rivers and their main tributaries. With a population of nearly 300,000, the agricultural industry is comprised of many small operations, with the producers in the region primarily cultivating cattle, forage, vegetable and fruit for market distribution.

Of essential importance to the participants, coordinator and PAC members of ALUS Outaouais are the health of their riparian areas, particularly in the RCM of Papineau where riparian restoration projects are planned for the Blanche River and Lavoie, Hébert and Dicaire streams. ALUS Outaouais intends to help meet locally set targets to improve biodiversity and water quality in and around the streams.

Some species identified as critically important in Outaouais are the bobolink, eastern meadowlark, grasshopper sparrow, barn swallow, red-headed woodpecker, golden winged warbler, western chorus frog and blanding’s turtle. ALUS can support many different types of ecological projects on agricultural land to help provide habitat for these species. Some of the projects would include: ungrazed/uncut reserve lands for birds; wetlands, riverbanks and windbreaks seeded with native plant species; and eco-buffers that can hold shrubs and trees that not only protect habitat but help with topsoil quality and retention on productive land.

ALUS Outaouais will undertake these projects as an extension of its legal entity FUPAOL, which is committed to the implementation of the ALUS program. The Federation is an agricultural trade union, which bases its raison d’être and its actions on values of respect for the individual, solidarity, collective action, social justice, equity and democracy. Its mission is to promote, defend and develop the professional, economic, social and moral interests of its members.

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