Located approximately 30 kilometers east of Montreal, Mont Saint-Hilaire is a steep-sided circular hill that rises some 250 meters above the Saint Lawrence plain. It comprises one of the last remnants of old growth deciduous forest in Quebec and hosts many rare and endangered species. The Mont Saint-Hilaire Biosphere Reserve is located near a major urban region where approximately 3.5 million people live. Tourism and agriculture are important to the economies of the five towns which occupy the transition area.

One of the main goals of the reserve is to protect the greenbelt and forest corridors that surround the mountain. Since 1972, the Mont Saint-Hilaire Centre de la nature – a non-profit organization – has worked in conjunction with McGill University’s Gault Nature Reserve as well as local communities and stakeholders towards the conservation of the reserve. The Centre works with owners of apple orchards, one of the region’s mainstays, to develop sound agricultural and economic approaches to ensure the integrity of the greenbelt that surrounds the hill. The Centre also works closely with landowners on various stewardship mandates. McGill University, which has had ownership of the site since 1958, conducts various types of research (eg detailed botanical inventories) within the reserve.

For more information, visit: http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Hilaire/html-en/index.php?page=home.html