Headlines from this weeks SPEC

Oct. 21, 2001

Forum to be held on integrated forest management
Cynthia Dow

Three partners have teamed up to hold Quebec's first public forum on integrated management of forest resources. The Conseil regional de concertation et developpement (CRCD), Gaspe CEGEP and the Ministry of Natural Resources are sponsoring the forum, which is scheduled for October 24 and 25 at the Salle des spectacles in New Richmond. Gilbert Scantland, Director General of the CRCD, told local media that the aim of the meeting is to "bring potential partners together on certain issues, to create an integrated vision of development. We want to encourage a vast effort of cooperation." Mr Scantland believes that a great variety of activities in the region's forests will add significantly to economic development in the area. Alain Viau, the Regional Director for Natural Resources, said that the new law on forestry management in Quebec indicates that the forest must be managed in such a way as to benefit all of the population.

Mr Viau presented some interesting statistics: the Gaspe has 19,500 square kilometres of forest, an area twice the size of Anticosti Island. About 83% of the forest land is public. ZECs control about 370 square kilometres of the Gaspesian forest, and the region's salmon rivers, placed end to end, would stretch from Gaspe to Ottawa. The forestry industry itself accounts for 2,500 direct jobs in the Gaspe, and brings some $500 million per year into the regional economy.

Gaspesian women tired of being poorest in Qubec
Gilles Gagne

In order to help Gaspesian women lose their title of the poorest in the Province of Quebec, the Table de concertation des groupes de femmes de la Gaspesie et des Iles will soon sign an agreement with education leaders, with the common goal of promoting promising sectors of employment among girls as well as among boys.