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Research Project
with Carleton University

Backstory

Since the Park was created in 2008, land-use practices have greatly improved: the Park’s public rest areas, island campsites and riverbanks are now managed and maintained, and are visited daily by the Park’s team of patrollers during the operating season. However, the introduction of the Park as a land management tool, and the popularity of its range of activities in recent years, have led to an increase in visitor numbers on these same islands and riverbanks. The Park team is not burying its head in the sand and neglecting the impact such traffic can have on the health of the region’s natural environments. We want to be proactive in drawing up a conservation plan to ensure that the health of the natural environment and biodiversity of this exceptional territory is maintained, and even improved.

 

Partnership With Carleton University

Since 2023, the Poisson Blanc Regional Park has had the pleasure of collaborating with Dalal Hanna, a professor at Carleton University in the Biology Department and head of the Watershed Stewardship Research Collaborative. Her team conducts solution-oriented research, identifying ways to maintain and enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services in freshwater landscapes. The convergence of her research interests and her love of the Poisson Blanc Reservoir led to a research partnership between the two entities.

Partnership Objectives

 

  1. Develop a lasting partnership with Carleton University so that the Poisson Blanc Regional Park territory can contribute to the advancement of research in natural heritage conservation and protection ;
  2. Support the Poisson Blanc Regional Park’s mission of protection and conservation by collaborating with experts who will recommend ways to improve the organization’s development and management methods ;
  3. Highlight how Quebec’s regional parks lack the funding they need as primary stakeholders to support their initiatives to protect and conserve natural environments ;

Current Project

Environmental Monitoring Program

Since 2024, the Park team has had the pleasure of working with a master’s student in biology and a bioecology technologist, to develop a indicator-based program to monitor the ecological status of campsites and public rest areas in the Poisson Blanc Reservoir. For the Park, this project is an opportunity to self-assess and get the facts right. The research results will be used to improve the Park team’s planning and management practices and, above all, to continue ensuring the ecological integrity of the territory.

Project Objectives

 

  1. Develop a system for monitoring the ecological status of campsites and rest areas on the Poisson Blanc Reservoir ;
  2. Better understand the impacts of supervised and unsupervised ecotourism activities on the ecosystems of the Poisson Blanc Reservoir ;

Find Out More
Water Rangers

Feel like getting involved as a park user?

Help us collect water quality data for the Poisson Blanc with the Water Rangers water test kit. It’s easy to use, just let us know you’re interested and our park rangers will be happy to provide you with everything you need.