Starting in 2021 In southeastern Quebec, DTEC is working with agricultural cooperatives, forestry and agricultural producers to restore abandoned fields and marginal agricultural land back to biodiverse sugar maple-leading stands with high climate, biodiversity and ecosystem values. This restoration project also addresses important economic and cultural values by rejuvenating and expanding maple sap and syrup production in Quebec. Small demo sites in the Plessisville area were planted in the fall of 2021. DTEC’s goal is to expand to 100s of hectares in the Appalachian Mountain region of southeastern Quebec where there are 1000s of hectares of old fields that are not naturally rejuvenating into forest because of high vegetative mats and browse pressure. The technical difficulty in restoring such sites is high and so are the costs. The rewards: this project comes with a high level of additionality. It’s a very poignant example of how climate change mitigation can achieve other sustainable development goals.
The project is entitled ARBRE – Agriculture Régénerative + Boisement + Restauration Écologique (Regenerative + Agriculture + Afforestation + Ecological Restoration). In technical terms, it is an Afforestation Reforestation Revegetation (ARR) project.
