Initiated in 2009, the Réseau d'expertise et de valorisation en biomasse forestière (website in French) is aimed at developing an industrial cluster to maximise economic spinoffs from the conversion of biomass into energy. Through its activities, the organisation supports enterprises in their efforts to develop and market products and services that meet the needs of the sector and to build expertise that can subsequently be shared throughout Quebec. The project for which the network has been granted funding involves hiring staff to coordinate and ensure the success of its activities.
The Réseau d'expertise et de valorisation en biomasse forestière is in the Regional County Municipality of La Matapédia, an area of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region that has been severely affected by the crisis in the forest sector and one where jobs have historically been centred on forest development and processing.
The project will now enjoy additional support from the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE): $194,488 in non-repayable funding awarded through Canada Economic Development.
The TISQFE was brought into force in June 2010 to help communities affected by the forestry crisis diversify their economies in order to ensure their growth and create and maintain employment. The initiative's goal is also to support secondary and tertiary wood processing projects in these communities.
This measure is one of several put in place by the Government of Canada to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include the Community Adjustment Fund, with its $1-billion budget over two years to mitigate the impact of the crisis, the $1 billion granted to the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program to help enterprises carry out environmentally-friendly projects, and the $238 million invested, in collaboration with the Government of Quebec, for silviculture work and the maintenance of multi-use forest roads.
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