The small town of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, about 30 miles west of Montreal, recently became the first in Canada to recognize trees as living beings with a special set of rights — including the rights to life, to natural growth, to integrity and to regeneration.
The move came in June, not long after filmmaker Andre Desrochers screened his film “Des Arbres et des Arts” (“Trees and Arts”) about the forests surrounding the town.
Following the documentary, town members were offered an opportunity to sign on to the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Trees, an international initiative spearheaded in France in 2018, and signed onto by tens of thousands of people worldwide. And then, the town took it a step further, passing a resolution to adopt the principles enshrined in the declaration.
Sylvie Trepanier, a member of Terrasse-Vaudreuil’s Environmental Committee, says the town continues to support responsible development, including using trees for wood or mulch, but will evaluate requests carefully to minimize unnecessary removal of trees.
Though 70% of the town is covered by tree canopy, Trepanier says there’s room for improvement, including planting more trees in strategic areas to mitigate soil erosion, clean the water table, and provide needed shade.
She joins host Robin Young to talk about her town’s new initiative.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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