A town in Canada has formally recognised trees as living organisms with rights of their own. The municipality of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, 64 kilometres west of Montreal, has declared that trees have “the right to life, to natural growth, to integrity and regeneration”.
🚨 GOOD NEWS: A small town west of Montreal has become the first in Canada to officially recognise trees as living beings with legal rights, including the right to life, to grow, and to regenerate
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The resolution, obtained by the CBC news network, was approved unanimously last summer by the council of the town of around 2,000 residents. Mayor Michel Bourdeau told the network that councillors adopted the plan unanimously. He added that he does not expect it to cause problems, such as obstacles to residential development.
What the resolution provides for
Under the new decision, the municipality will review its existing rules and bylaws to ensure that trees are protected, or replaced if they are cut down.
Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a municipality just 40 miles west of Montreal, has declared that trees have “the right to life, to natural growth, to integrity and regeneration”. Read more: https://t.co/3k2SJdQtmE https://t.co/VZMfASlXHv
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Mr Bourdeau, whose town has flooded three times in recent years, said that when it comes to fighting climate change, “our biggest ally is the trees”.
“Trees are a true green infrastructure,” he said. “They help reduce urban heat islands, improve air quality, manage precious water resources and protect biodiversity.”
A film that inspired the community
Mr Bourdeau added that Quebec filmmaker André Desrochers inspired the local community to act through his film Des arbres et des arts. According to the mayor, the film convinced residents that trees are living entities that breathe and can communicate with one another through their root systems.
“A tree is like a human being,” Mr Bourdeau said. “It breathes, it lives, it takes in water. It protects us from all sorts of things.”
Universal Declaration of the Rights of Trees
The town also became the first municipality in the world to formally adopt the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Trees. The declaration was drafted by Ricardo Rey and then developed by the French organisation La Compagnie des Papillons Bleus, following an international appeal launched in Paris in 2018.
The initiative’s three core articles state that:
- Life on Earth depends on the existence of trees
- Humans must act in “fraternity and solidarity” with them
- Trees are living beings and a common human good
Part of a wider rights of nature movement
Yenny Vega Cárdenas, president of the International Observatory of Nature Rights, told the CBC that trees have dignity and senses.
“We need to understand that [trees] have dignity and they have senses,” she said, clarifying: “Not sentiments, but senses.”
According to Ms Vega Cárdenas, the declaration on the rights of trees is part of the same trend that has seen rivers and other natural areas granted rights around the world.
With information from The Independent
