Since they are essential environments for wildlife, eleven categories of habitats benefit from legal protection in Quebec. Together, they protect a great diversity of wildlife species, including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, certain large mammals, such as caribou and deer, as well as numerous species of seabirds and waterfowl.

Among the protected habitats, there are also those of endangered or vulnerable wildlife species.

### #LOI AND REGULATIONS

* Wildlife Conservation and Development Act

* Wildlife Habitat Regulation

* Regulation on threatened or vulnerable wildlife species and their habitats

### #LISTE LEGALLY PROTECTED WILDLIFE HABITATS

* Area of concentration of waterbirds

* Caribou calving area north of the 52nd parallel

* Caribou use area south of the 52nd parallel

* White-tailed deer containment area

* Cliff inhabited by a bird colony

* Island or peninsula inhabited by a bird colony

* Habitat of a threatened or vulnerable wildlife species

* Heron (including the nest and the 0-200 m and 200-500 m bands that surround it)

* Fish habitat

* Muskrat habitat

* Mudflat

A shape file exists for all wildlife habitats in the province of Quebec.

Wildlife habitats located on mixed and private lands are also found for information purposes.

### #SOURCES CARTOGRAPHIC

Wildlife habitats are digitized using as a reference, in particular:

* Quebec topographic database (BDTQ);

* Domain layer of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MRNF);

* Administrative divisions of Quebec on a scale of 1/20,000;

* Digital imagery.

References may vary depending on the case. Other sources can also be used

### #MISE DATA UPDATE

The updating of wildlife habitat data follows a variable planning according to the habitat category and according to the inventories carried out and the needs of regional and central departments.

### #Mise on guard: The digital version of geo-descriptive data describing wildlife habitats is produced from a legal perspective of location, protection and management of habitats. In fact, only the digital version that has been published in the Official Gazette of Quebec is recognized as legal.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**