PARCS en Santé

The PARCS en Santé project aims to protect the ecosystems of peri-urban natural parks while reducing the risks to human health posed by tick-borne diseases in Quebec, Canada.

PARCS en Santé brings together researchers, park managers, citizens, and organizations to develop sustainable solutions aimed at protecting ecosystems and the health of all living things that inhabit and make up the parks. We are working in five urban or peri-urban natural parks in three regions in Quebec (Montréal, Estrie and Montérégie).

Our research team uses a One Health approach which views human, animal and ecosystem health as interconnected. The three main themes of the project are: ticks and their pathogens, white-tailed deer and the restoration of ecosystems, and citizen science.

The purpose of the Zooniverse platform is to help us characterize biodiversity at the various sites within the parks where we collect ticks. The goal is to better understand the dynamics between the presence of animal species, such as white-tailed deer, and the presence of ticks that may be infected with diseases.

Universities involved are Université de Montréal, Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, Université du Québec en Outaouais et Université Bishop.