A shade better: Trees make for a lasting legacy
Of the many legacy projects launched to celebrate Montreal’s 375th birthday, the effort to plant 375,000 trees in the city and region is a breath of fresh air.
Expanding the tree canopy by three per cent will, quite literally, improve air quality as well as the health and well-being of Montrealers. But the plan, which is being spearheaded by Jour de la Terre Québec, is funded by donations from non-profit organizations, companies and individuals. That’s also a novel approach to commemorative projects, instead of using public money to build walkways and light up bridges.
To top it off, the program will pilot an innovative strategy to ensure the trees survive and thrive for generations to come — which could end up being the most significant result of this celebratory initiative.
The project now has enough financing to cover all 375,000 trees, thanks to a major contribution from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec announced last week. The Caisse will pay for 250,000 of the trees, to offset the carbon emissions that will be created from the construction of its proposed light-rail project, the Réseau éléctrique métropolitain. That’s enough to cover 208 hectares, or the equivalent of Mount Royal and Jeanne Mance Park together.
Without the agreement, Jour de la Terre might have fallen short of its ambitious goal, director Pierre Lussier said.
“From the beginning, we’ve had two challenges,” he said. “The first was the money to plant the trees, and the second was the space to plant them . ... We were breaking our heads trying to come up with the financing.”
Now that funding is secure, however, Jour de la Terre can focus on the more important matter of where to put all the trees. And that’s not as straightforward as it sounds.
The city and the greater Montreal region have a strategy to increase the tree canopy in the area from about 20 per cent to 25 per cent by 2025.
But the effort has been complicated by the emerald ash borer blight, which has infected thousands and either killed or necessitated the cutting of countless trees to contain the spread.
On top of that, life in an urban environment can be harsh for even the heartiest of tree species due to inadequate space for their roots to grow, depleted soil or plain old abuse from having bicycles shackled to their trunks.
And as Lussier noted, snowclearing — from salt and abrasives to injuries inflicted by sidewalk plows — is probably as harmful as any insect infestation.
To increase their chances of survival, the 375,000 trees are being planted in groups, rather than in sidewalk wells all alone, Lussier said. They are being planted on public lands, in parks, around agricultural zones, on corporate campuses and even in people’s backyards. Those who receive trees, whether it’s a municipality or a company, have to commit to
Let’s hope this accountability will help safeguard the investment.
letting them grow undisturbed for 80 years.
A committee of experts will recommend which kinds of trees are best suited for the particular environment where they are to be placed and gauge whether there is enough biodiversity to protect that tree canopy from the threat of future pests.
Most notably, there will be follow up to monitor the health and viability of every tree planted, said Lussier, whether it is in an individual’s back yard or in the protected greenbelt that rings the metropolis.
Let’s hope this accountability will help safeguard the investment in this precious birthday gift for Montreal. And perhaps it can be the basis of a new model for trying to achieve the important mission of greening the city — street by street, block by block, borough by borough. A living legacy is the best present of all.