Quebec is one of the newest sub-national jurisdictions to have certified and created an Expert Assessment Group for the Green List (EAGL). The EAGL is composed of diverse specialists from NGOs, research institutions, government, and consultants working in the field of protected and conserved areas and represents the first in Canada to support this IUCN initiative to improve management, governance, and conservation of protected and conserved areas. 

Marie-Eve Marchand, President of the EAGL Quebec, remarked,

“The province of Quebec has included the importance of IUCN standards into its Act and there is an energy among both the public and their government to protect even more. It is fitting that Quebec is the first place in Canada to establish the IUCN Green List mechanism, considering effectively managed and fairly governed protected and conserved areas, with a long-term positive impact on people and nature. We are looking forward to the first site candidacy in 2022.”

In the early 2000s, less than 3.5% of the province of Quebec was protected, but has since made great leaps by establishing a network of protected areas aiming to represent all of its biological diversity covering 16.7% (252,597 km2) of terrestrial and freshwater environments and 12.2% (18,971 km2) of marine and coastal environments by 2021. The vast majority of protected areas are under the jurisdiction of the Government of Quebec (public lands) and classified in IUCN categories I to IV. Less than 1% of Quebec protected areas are on private land.