Promoting Soil Bioengineering in Quebec

Abstract

In Quebec, interest in-soil and water bioengineering (i.e. the use of living plants to combat erosion) on riverbanks is growing, despite specific constraints such as ice, high wave action or sensitive clays. This article aims to identify the brakes and levers for greater use of soil and water bioengineering in Quebec, based on a workshop held in October 2022 and attended by some thirty stakeholders in the field. Four types of obstacles were identified: those linked to 1) institutional governance and regulations (for example, the complexity of certain regulations and their constant changes); 2) the perception and acceptability of soil and water bioengineering works (for example, their implementation calls into question certain uses and property rights) ; 3) project management and timing (e.g., reconciling schedules related to fish fauna and growth period of cuttings); and finally, 4) the lack of knowledge and training (as illustrated, for example, by the compartmentalization of ecological and engineering knowledge). While levers have been identified for each of these obstacles, more global levers have also been targeted, such as the development of a community of practitioners federating a motivated collective, or the writing of a technical and regulatory guide that could serve as a basic reference for the dissemination of these techniques.