Baie de l'Isle-Verte (French for "Green Island Bay") is a coastal

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

along the southern shore of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was designated a Ramsar wetland of international importance on May 27, 1987, is classified as a globally significant

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

, and contains a National Wildlife Area and Migratory Bird Sanctuary. It is located in the

Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality Rivière-du-Loup is a regional county municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. Its most important city is Rivière-du-Loup, which contains more than half of the population. Major industries include pulp and paper, other woo ...

, in the municipality of

L'Isle-Verte L'Isle-Verte () is a small municipality located along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, in the Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, Quebec, Canada. The name of the village refers to '' Île Vert ...

. Within the wetland is a 797 hectare area managed by the

Canadian Wildlife Service The Canadian Wildlife Service or CWS (french: Service canadien de la faune), is a Branch of the Department of the Environment (Environment and Climate Change Canada), a department of the Government of Canada. November 1, 2012 marked the 65th ann ...

, of which 406 hectares was designated a National Wildlife Area in 1980. This was created to protect the spartina marshes, which

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

is an important breeding area for the American black duck and other migratory

Anatidae The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating ...

. It also consists of recreational facilities including

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trails and observation towers, as well as exhibits on

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

lands and

tidal marsh A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes are commonly zoned into lower marshes ( ...

es at the Maison Girard Interpretation Centre, and summer school programmes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baie De L'isle-Verte Ramsar sites in Canada Important Bird Areas of Quebec Bays of Quebec Landforms of Bas-Saint-Laurent Protected areas of Bas-Saint-Laurent