What is Parks Canada doing to protect the St. Lawrence Beluga?
At the beginning of the 1990s, several stakeholders met to create a recovery plan for the St. Lawrence beluga. Since the publication of this plan in 1995, several actions have been taken to aid the beluga population. The single most important was the creation of the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park. This Park, jointly managed by Parks Canada and Parcs Québec, enables us to protect a part of the ecosystem in which the St. Lawrence beluga spends its whole life. The creation of the Marine observation activities regulations is also one of the most important measures in place to encourage the recovery of the St. Lawrence beluga population. These regulations, written in collaboration with the people who conduct activities in the waters of the Marine Park, provide guidelines about observing marine mammals. The main goal of such regulations is to reduce the intrusion caused by human activities. Since the implementation of these regulations in 2002, it has been prohibited to get closer than 40
