Mapping and characterization of the Special Ecological Development Zones (ZAEP) which are found in the 2nd draft revised land use and development plan for the City of Laval, adopted in March 2017. A ZAEP is a vast planning territory integrating sectors of potential development as well as areas for the conservation and enhancement of large areas of high ecological value. This territory has a high density of elements of interest (woods, rivers, exceptional forest ecosystem, wetlands, etc.).**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

This dataset contains area-based management measures that have been recognized as 'other effective area-based conservation measures' (OECMs). It also contains basic information about OECMs, specifically their names, size, objectives, associated prohibitions, and DFO region.  Spatial data for OECMs will be evaluated regularly, taking the most recent available information into account. In addition new 'OECMs will be identified over time. Therefore, this dataset may change over time.

Produced as part of the St. Lawrence Action Plan, the Atlas of Territories of Interest for Conservation in the St. Lawrence Lowlands shows the sites where conservation needs are the most pressing. The conservation targets selected (coarse filter) are forest environments, wetlands, open environments (wastelands, perennial crops) and aquatic environments to which are added elements of the fine filter such as exceptional aquatic environments associated with the St. Lawrence corridor (e.g. spawning grounds), alvars, bird colonies, wildlife elements (e.g. nesting sites of Bank Swallows and Chimney Swift, etc.) and important floristic occurrences. Our objective is to determine the sites of interest until a representative threshold of 20% is reached. The geospatial data associated with sites of interest for conservation, the user guide, the methodological report, the metadata as well as the detailed mapping of land use in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, which was an essential basic data for producing this atlas, are available for download. Users can therefore more accurately consult the spatial distribution of sites of interest and the conservation value associated with each plot of habitat for conservation targets (forest environments, wetlands, wastelands, perennial crops, aquatic environments) using geographic information systems (e.g. ArcGIS). Users can also adapt the analysis of this data to their territorial reality and according to specific objectives specific to their interests. Since the conservation of natural environments and species in precarious situations is a shared responsibility, this Atlas will make it possible to meet the priorities of the many organizations involved in the conservation of natural environments in the St. Lawrence Lowlands.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

This entry provides access to spatial layers that feature in the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) Science Advice Report titled ‘Delineation of Significant Areas of Coldwater Corals and Sponge-Dominated Communities in Canada's Atlantic and Eastern Arctic Marine Waters and their Overlap with Fishing Activity’ and CSAS Research Document titled ‘Analysis of the overlap between fishing effort and Significant Benthic Areas in Canada's Atlantic and Eastern Arctic marine waters’. These spatial layers show cumulative fishing effort in Canada’s Atlantic and Eastern Arctic waters for the years 2005-2014. Production of the spatial layers was based on vessel monitoring system (VMS) and commercial logbook data sources. Fishing effort is provided in standardized spatial layers for various fisheries groupings: all fisheries combined, aggregations of gear type, and fisheries classes as defined in the CSAS reports. Cette ressource donne accès aux les couches spatiales du document de recherche du SCCS intitulé ' Délimitation des zones importantes de communautés dominées par les coraux et les éponges d'eau froide dans les eaux marines du Canada atlantique et de l'est de l'Arctique et chevauchement avec les activités de pêche’ et ‘Analyse du recoupement entre l'effort de pêche et les zones benthiques importantes dans les eaux marines canadiennes de l'Atlantique et de l'Arctique de l'Est’. Ces couches spatiales montrent l’effort de pêche cumulatif dans les eaux de l’Atlantique et de l’est de l’Arctique canadien pour 2005 à 2014. La production des couches spatiales était fondée sur le Système de surveillance des navires (SSN) et des sources de données des journaux de bord commerciaux. L’effort de pêche est présenté sous forme de couches spatiales normalisées pour divers regroupements de pêches : toutes les pêches combinées, agrégations de types d’engins et catégories de pêches, telles qu’elles sont définies dans les documents de recherche.

Biological refuges are small forest areas located on the domain of the State and permanently removed from forest management activities in order to maintain the biological diversity associated with old forests. Their management is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MRNF). Forest management activities are prohibited on the territory of a biological refuge, with few exceptions. There are currently 3,704 biological refuges in Quebec, distributed relatively uniformly throughout managed forests in the domain of the State. Biological refuges can be designated under the Sustainable Forest Development Act (LADTF, chapter A-18.1) or in draft before legal designation. Legally designated organic refuges make up the vast majority. They are exempt from industrial activities, which allows them to be registered in the Quebec Register of Protected Areas (RAP) maintained by the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP). This data comes from the MRNF STF system, which is the __official source__ of this geographic information.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

The dataset consists of maps detailing the boundaries of the designatable units for conservation considerations as defined by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) for species of Pacific Salmon in British Columbia and the Yukon. Designatable units represent geographical areas that support groups of individuals with a unique genetic heritage makes them discrete and evolutionarily significant units of the taxonomic species, where “significant” means that the unit is important to the evolutionary legacy of the species as a whole and if lost is unlikely to be replaced through natural dispersion.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has worked with partners and ocean users to develop a draft conservation network plan for the Scotian Shelf-Bay of Fundy Bioregion. This work led to the 2017 draft conservation network plan. The draft plan was updated after targeted consultations from 2021 to 2022. The latest draft reflects new science information on climate change, updated human-use activities (such as fisheries data), and feedback from consultations. This dataset includes the latest existing and proposed conservation sites in the Scotian Shelf-Bay of Fundy Bioregion. Existing sites: -Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) -Marine refuges -Migratory bird sanctuary, National Wildlife area and National Park with marine components Proposed sites: -Areas of Interest (AOIs) and their lead agency -Tier 1 sites – higher priority for implementation and are among the sites that could be selected for advancement by 2030. These sites have high conservation value based on the confirmed presence of key ecological features. The lead federal agency is specified for all tier 1 sites. -Tier 2 sites - are important to create a representative conservation network but will not be considered for advancement by 2030. These sites require more research and information on ecological features and human uses before implementation. -Other sites have also been identified through network planning. These are not considered part of the conservation network plan at this time. Proposed conservation sites: 1. Cobequid Bay 2. Southern Bight 3. Chignecto Bay 4. Salmon Rivers 5. Bay of Fundy Horse Mussel Aggregations 6. West Isles and Passages 7. Long Eddy 8. South Grand Manan 9. Brier Island 10. Chebogue 11. Eel Bay 12. McNutts Island 13. Pemsɨk 14. LaHave Islands 15. Sambro Ledges-Prospect 16. Martinique Beach and Musquodoboit Harbour 17. St. Mary’s (Napu’saqnuk) River and Estuary 18. Country Island 19. MacNamaras Island 20. Canso Ledges-Sugar Harbour Islands 21. Fleur-de-Lis Coast 22. Bird Islands 23. Ingonish 24. Aspy Bay 25. Bras d’Or Lake 26. Southwest Bank 27. Western Jordan Basin 28. Georges Bank 29. LaHave Basin 30. Scotian Gulf 31. Central Scotian Slope, Rise, and Abyss 32. Inner Shelf Sea Pen Field 33. Sable Island Bank 34. Logan Canyon 35. Canso Bank and Channels 36. Misaine Bank and Laurentian Channel 37. Eastern Shoal 38. Cold Seeps Boundaries are preliminary and subject to change following public consultation.

Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) are areas within Canada's oceans that have been identified through formal scientific assessments as having special biological or ecological significance when compared with the surrounding marine ecosystem. Failure to define an area as an EBSA does not mean that it is unimportant ecologically. All areas serve ecological functions to some extent and require sustainable management. Rather, areas identified as EBSAs should be viewed as the most important areas where, with existing knowledge, regulators and marine users should be particularly risk averse to ensure ecosystems remain healthy and productive. Why are EBSAs identified? EBSA information is used to inform marine planning, including environmental assessment and the siting of marine-based activities, by: - Informing and guiding project-specific or regional environmental assessments; - Informing and guiding industries and regulators in their planning and operations, for example: EBSAs have been acknowledged and referred to (often as "Special Areas" or "Potentially Sensitive Areas") in oil and gas related assessments; - EBSA information has been provided to proponents of submarine cable projects to be used for route planning purposes; - Informing and guiding Integrated Oceans Management (IOM) process within five Large Ocean Management Areas (LOMAs) and twelve marine bioregions; - Serving as a basis for the identification of Areas of Interest (AOIs) and of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) (individually and in the context of planning bioregional networks of MPAs). How are EBSAs identified? The process used to identify EBSAs is generally comprised of two phases. The first phase involves compiling scientific data and knowledge of a marine area's ecosystems - notably fish species, marine mammals, sea birds, marine flora, marine productivity, physical and chemical conditions and geology. "Knowledge" includes experiential knowledge of long-time uses of the areas. In some cases (e.g., in the Arctic), substantial efforts are taken to collect traditional knowledge on ecosystems and environmental conditions from community members, fish harvests, hunters and individuals whose knowledge of the study area complement often helps fill scientific data gaps. In the second phase, the available information for a marine area (e.g. a bioregion) is assessed against five nationally-established science-based criteria including: - Uniqueness: How distinct is the ecosystem of an area compared to surrounding ones? - Aggregation: Whether or not species populate or convene to the study area? - Fitness consequence: How critical the area is to the life history of the species that use it (e.g. is it a spawning or feeding ground)? - Naturalness: How pristine or disturbed by human activities is the study area? - Resilience: What is the ability of the ecosystem to bounce back if it is disturbed? Progress to date and next steps EBSAs have been identified for large portions of Canada's Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as most of the Arctic oceans. EBSAs will continue to be identified in priority areas as resources become available to carry out the process. The boundaries or locations of existing EBSAs may be modified to reflect both new knowledge and changing environmental conditions.