Last June, the RE3 Conference was held in Quebec City, a joint event of the Society for Ecological Restoration - Eastern Canada Chapter (SER-EC) and the Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA), to mark the third year of the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). Also joining the event were the SER Ontario Chapter (SER-O), the SER Midwest and Great Lakes Chapter (SER-MWGL), the Society of Wetland Scientists Canadian Chapter (SWS Canada), the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), the International Peatland Society (IPS) and the American Society of Reclamation Sciences (ASRS).

From June 11 to 15, 2023, 680 people from 28 countries attended the conference at the Convention Centre of Quebec City.

However, since activities also took place at Université Laval from June 10 onwards, and post-conference excursions ended on June 18, bringing the duration of the event to nine full days, the total number of people who attended one of the conference-related activities in one way or another came to over 720! All activities were linked to the three RE3 themes: REclamation, REstoration and REwilding.

On June 11, 12, 13 and 15, participants were able to attend 338 oral and 97 poster presentations, divided into 26 symposia and 28 parallel sessions, in addition to presentations by seven keynote speakers.

Starting on June 10, the conference also offered participants the chance to take part in one or more of the 4 training courses, 8 workshops and 14 field trips, many of which focused on responsible peatland management and restoration.

You can listen HERE on Youtube to the Youth Recommendations for the UN Decade of Restoration from the IUCN Future Leaders Academy meeting.

You can also read HERE the Quebec City Declaration: United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, drawn up during the RE3 Conference.

Here are a few photos from the RE3 Conference:

The conference program is available here.

Participants at the Global Peatlands Initiative workshop - Building collaborations for effective peatland management in Canada, at Université Laval, June 10, 2023. Organized by the Global Peatlands Initiative (GPI), PERG and Can-Peat project. Photo: M. Lapointe

Training course on peatland restoration, using the Moss Layer Transfer Technique (MLTT) and other methods, at U. Laval, June 11, 2023. Trainers (left): Marie-Claire LeBlanc and François Quinty. Photo: M.-C. LeBlanc

Maria Strack (left) and Line Rochefort (right), co-chairs of the RE3 Conference, give the opening address at the Quebec City Convention Centre on June 11, 2023.

Keynote speaker Edward Struzik (writer, public speaker and member of the Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy), who presented a lecture on the past and future of the Arctic at the launch of RE3 (June 11).

Keynote speaker Gary Pritchard (Curve Lake First Nation) at the 1st Plenary on Rewilding: Is Western Conservation still harming Indigenous Peoples? (June 12).

Keynote speaker Marie-Eve Marchand (Buffalo Relations Institute), at the 2nd Plenary on Rewilding, on the subject of the return of the plains bison to North America, which was on the brink of extinction 150 years ago (June 12).

The Women in Restoration Luncheon, chaired by Asha Hingorani (CSPMA president, right), who introduced two of the speakers: Berger co-presidents and managing directors Valérie and Mélissa Berger (left) (June 12).

Alongside the poster session, on the evenings of June 12 and 13, a youth booth offered career-related lectures aimed at young people. In the foreground: Éléonor Bergeron-de Pani (doctoral student, U. Laval), behind: Gillian Davies (BSC Group) and Dianna Kopanski (UNEP).

Keynote speaker Carla Wytrykush (Syncrude Canada) at the 1st Reclamation Plenary, focusing on landscape reconstruction in oil sands areas in relation to aboriginal communities (June 13).

Keynote speaker Jacynthe Dessureault-Rompré (Université Laval), at the 2nd Reclamation Plenary, on the sustainable production of market garden crops on agricultural peatlands (June 13).

Second poster session, June 13, 2023.

Visit to the Bois-des-Bel bog (near Cacouna, QC) during the "Responsible peatland management: from peat extraction to peatland restoration" field trip, organized by the CSPMA, the Créneau d'excellence Tourbe et substrats and several horticultural peat companies (June 14).

Visit to the Grande plée Bleue peatland (near Lévis, QC) during the "Visit of a restored peatland and a natural bog near Quebec City" field trip, organized by PERG, Premier Tech Horticulture and CSPMA (June 14). Photo: K. Pouliot.

Keynote speaker Tina McCaffrey (City of Greater Sudbury) at the 1st Restoration Plenary, on the subject of large-scale restoration in the City of Greater Sudbury, affected by logging, mining and smelting activities (June 14).

Keynote speaker Eric Higgs (University of Victoria), at the 2nd Restoration Plenary, on the need for a Canadian ecosystem restoration program that builds on past achievements (June 14).

Roundtable discussions at the "UN Decade of restoration: Advancing the Canadian agenda" Forum, in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and biodiversity conservation (June 15).

2nd ISHS Young Mind Contest prize awarded to Talal Asif (U. Laval) for his oral presentation entitled "Peatland geoengineering: an approach to strengthen enzymic latch and impede carbon emissions in post-extracted peatlands? Award presented by Dianna Kopanski (UNEP-GPI), at the closing ceremony (June 15).

Photo of delegates attending the closing ceremony of the RE3 Conference, at the Quebec City Convention Centre, on the afternoon of June 15.

Banquet dance at the Quebec City Armoury, June 15.

Another visit to the Bois-des-Bel bog (near Cacouna, QC) during the field trip "From horticultural peat extraction to peatland restoration: A journey in the St. Lawrence Valley", organized by PERG, CSPMA and Créneau d'excellence Tourbe et substrats (June 16). Photo: K. Pouliot