is an important nesting area for the American black duck, as well as a stop for migratory birds in spring. The region has four national parks. The Lac-Témiscouata National Park is located east of the Lake Témiscouata and protects a representative part of the Notre Dame Mountains and several ancient forests. The Bic National Park, near Rimouski, protects the litoral of the south of the estuary of Saint Lawrence. The Gaspésie National Park , of which only a small part is within the limits of the region, is characterized by several summits taller than . Its diverse climate and its landscape host a flora unique in Quebec. Finally, about 30% of the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park, the first marine park of Quebec, is located in the region. It holds the longest fjord in the east of Canada as well as a part of the largest estuary in the world, which makes it a location of considerable marine biodiversity. It is the only park administered in Canada by both the Government of Quebec and Government of Canada. Three other parks, ecological reserves, more restricted protected areas, are located in the centre of the region, the reserves of Fernald, Charles-B.-Banville and Irène-Fournier. At the same level of protection, there are six floristic parks, most of them within the Gaspésie National Park. The largest protected areas of the region are those protected by the confinement areas of the white-tailed deer. Just these protected areas cover nearly 80% of the protected area of the region. Bas-Saint-Laurent contains about 27% of the protected areas of this designation. The second largest designation by superficy are the protected areas devoted to the protection of aquatic birds, of which a large part () are in a marine environment. Although they are not strictly considered protected areas, the territories structured for the gestion of wildlife cover 45,5% of the surface area of the region. They are divided in four wildlife reserves and five Zone d'exploitation contrôlée. Demography After reaching its peak in the middle of the 20th century due to the strong natality and a reduction of child mortality, the inhabited area of Bas-Saint-Laurent has declined over the last 50 years. This observation is not unique to the region however, as the population living on the south shore of the estuary, in the regions of Côte-du-Sud, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie, has dropped from 9.3 to 5.4% of the total population