The Deschênes Forest: How Citizens Saved a Treasure in Fast-Developing Gatineau
The case of the Deschênes forest started out as a classic story.
In March 2020, the City of Gatineau (QC) put the beautiful Deschênes forest—one of last natural environments standing in the Aylmer district—for sale.
But citizens decided that wasn’t going to be the end of it, and there followed an intense three-month mobilization.
“The Deschênes forest is saved,” announced the Le Droit newspaper on July 7 2020 (article in French).
Better yet, the city was promising to grant the Deschênes forest official protection status—truly the stuff of fairy tales.
I thought it might be useful to other nature advocates to know how it all went down, so I asked France Gagnon, one of the faces of this outstanding campaign, to give me a peek behind the scenes.
Saving the Deschênes Forest: Why it Worked
Putting the Story Out There
A longtime resident of Aylmer, France was flabbergasted to learn of the imminent destruction of the Deschênes forest.
She and many others had thought the forest was officially protected; three municipal signs by the adjoining roads even highlighted its ecological value.
“These natural environments are part of an important area for the conservation of 270 bird species,” the signs read. “930 species of amphibians, reptiles and mammals, as well as several endangered plant species, have been observed in these ecosystems. Let us help protect this rich biodiversity.”
Despite this, the city had decided that residences or shops were to replace this 5-hectare environment. Including the old, regenerating oak forest within it, which is a rarity in the region.
“It was such a blow,” France recalls. “I was very disappointed, but I didn’t know what to do.” To make matters worse, the COVID-19 tornado of March 2020 had started engulfing everyone’s energy.
Yet, amidst the general grogginess, some were starting to take a stance. “A few residents’ associations sent open letters to the local newspaper, calling for the protection of the forest,” France explains.
But there was no such association in her own neighborhood.
Sitting in the woods one afternoon, pondering its richness beneath birds courting and chirping, she resolved to step in and give it her all.
France is not a scientist, nor was she a seasoned advocate at the time. But what she does have is an unmatched talent for getting stories out there or, as she puts it, “a big mouth.”
One of the first things she did was email the public media outlet Radio-Canada. On April 25, they interviewed her for an article (in French).
From then on, more people started joining in, sharing information about this natural treasure, and expressing their concerns at City Council meetings.
Just five days later, the mayor of Gatineau suspended the sale process. The city needs to reevaluate, he said. Date of final decision: unknown.
It was a beacon of hope for France, who put almost all of her time into the cause. As a social butterfly, she turned out to be exceptional at bringing people together and cheering them on.
Walking in the Deschênes woods nearly every day, she approached walkers with a startling question: “Did you know that this forest is set to be destroyed?” Most of them didn’t.
The cause kept gaining traction. Time, however, was racing by, even with the suspension of the sale.
Quickly taking things to the next level, France and others wrote to several organizations, asking for their support. Dozens of them, environmental or otherwise, responded to the call.
The city eventually decided on a date for the new vote: July 7.
France’s optimism was very well rewarded when the Council voted unanimously to cancel the sale—a result even beyond her dreams.
“We were overjoyed,” she concludes, beaming.
Getting the Local Scientists on Board
“Scientists telling us of the urgency of the situation and citizens willing to respond to their call have to work together.” – France Gagnon
More than once during our chat, France stresses the importance of understanding the land.
“You have to know what you want to conserve. Just flat out calling for the protection of a forest isn’t enough.”
Back in 2012, two organizations wrote reports on the Deschênes forest and its surroundings. Those municipal signs bordering the woods display a summary of their findings. But eight years later, more thorough and up-to-date information was necessary.
Walking in the Deschênes forest, France met many local scientists, from biologists to geologists. She would ask whether they might be interested in contributing to the characterization of the forest.
“When push comes to shove, we advocates need experts to get on board with us,” France says earnestly. “Scientists telling us of the urgency of the situation and citizens willing to respond to their call have to work together.”
But many scientists were hesitant to get involved, for fear that the controversial case of the Deschênes forest would, through them, be linked to their employer. France therefore encouraged the researchers to participate as independent specialists, which many of them did.
Capitalizing on this new research, a small committee of advocates prepared a 30-page report and a table detailing how it complemented the city’s information from 2012.
Among other things, the report mentioned that the forest was home to an impressive number of vulnerable species, and that it was part of a city-scale natural corridor.
France’s words about knowledge of the land stayed with me. They make sense, of course. Still, we know how much people need nature and how rapidly it’s disappearing everywhere. Headlines such as “Canada Needs to Triple the Amount of Protected Land and Water to Tackle ‘Nature Emergency’” have become common.
Given this, you’d think that a call to save an urban forest, on the mere basis that such environments are vital to humans, wouldn’t fall on deaf ears.
A few citizens fighting for the Deschênes forest did question the city’s choice in the context of climate change and the collapse of biodiversity. However, councillors’ answers were invariably rooted in local affairs; they focused on Gatineau’s influx of new residents, the need to fund a new arena in the West, and the city’s efforts regarding green policies, public transit, and cycle paths.
“It’s much bigger than this,” one might be tempted to say. After all, natural environments do produce the oxygen we breathe and sequester the carbon we produce.
But even though global and general arguments surely add weight, they probably wouldn’t have sufficed in this case. Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin did imply, on the day of the vote, that it was the local, specific knowledge citizens generated that truly changed the game.
Going With the Flow of Diversity
“There was no real head of this mass of citizens. And that was a good thing.” – France Gagnon
The Radio-Canada interview France arranged was a turning point. It sent a clear message to residents upset over the sale that they weren’t alone.
While France focused on an email group afterwards, other concerned citizens started connecting through the Facebook page Forêt Deschênes Forest.
The two groups quickly started talking more, and the train they were riding kept gaining speed. Soon, dozens of Gatineau residents from various backgrounds, and with different priorities, were coming together.
The charms of the Deschênes woods sparked many people’s creativity and determination. Some put up video essays on YouTube. Others shared their photographs or wrote letters to the local newspaper.
One man even prepared a 60-page document on the Deschênes Forest, which he sent to the City Council.
“A friend told me: ‘This thing is like a multi-headed dragon,’ ” France laughs. “That was exactly the case. There was no real head of this mass of citizens. And that was a good thing.”
While France and a few others did organize as a group called The Committee for the protection of the Deschênes forest, they were more intent on giving ideas, sharing thoughts, and providing information than trying to spearhead the mobilization.
As a result, the city had to answer to a wide range of objections. This was not a dialogue between the City Council and one group presenting a united front; it was a multilateral, never-ending conversation.
Concerned citizens planned a demonstration for the day before the vote. As COVID-19-related health measures loosened in Quebec, advocates were able to get out to encourage more people to participate in the event.
Again, initiatives were coming from all angles. Some people started walking around the city with banners announcing the event. Others put their banners in front of their home and answered questions from neighbours and passersby.
One family stationed itself at the Aylmer market, passing out flyers that they had designed themselves.
Thanks to everyone’s efforts, about 750 people participated in this culminating demonstration. That’s an incredible turnout, even for a big city like Gatineau. What’s more, about a thousand people were members of the Facebook group at the time.
Adding to this those who indirectly supported advocates (from relatives to sympathetic drivers honking their support at the demonstration) it’s safe to say that the number of people who rejoiced in the good news was far higher than that.
One family outing was enough to make me grasp the depth of the protesters’ relief. When my mom and I entered the wooded path leading up to the Ottawa River, leaving the noisy street filled with exhaust gas behind, we immediately started breathing in more deeply.
Now, thanks to the extraordinary work of citizens like France Gagnon, the Deschênes forest will go on providing a refuge for all.
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6 Comments
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Mike Duggan
Thank you for documenting this, Sophie. It was an interesting situation with many moving parts. If you ever expand upon the narrative, don’t hesitate to contact me. The lessons learned will help to serve other cases.
Sophie Arbour
Thank you Mr. Duggan.
I was so happy to learn of the resulting changes in the city’s rules and procedures!
Rick Henderson
I would like to add one important element that is ignored in your excellent blogpost, a determinative element according to the Mayor himself, one that contributed to the success in preserving the forest, and that is the history, which was essentially unknown by city officials. In fact, the research returned the name of the forest itself, the name of the bay on the river, and the name of a stream that marked an important archaeological site – all names that were mostly lost in local knowledge. The forest had become Guillot Park on city maps, the pond and the bay also carried local names from recent history. Now the forest’s name that it carried for hundreds of years has returned and the bay carries the name Bell Bay, that it was given in earliest colonial times.
Sophie Arbour
Hello Rick,
Thank you for sharing these facts about the history of the area and the toponymy of the place.
Yes, I omitted the historical aspect, colonial and indigenous, which, together, deserve a whole post!
It definitely is an important topic that should be explored further. 🙂