Quebec town grants trees legal rights as living beings
Terrasse-Vaudreuil becomes the first municipality in Canada to recognize trees with formal rights to life, growth, and regeneration.
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A small town west of Montreal has officially recognized trees as living beings with their own rights, in what an environmental organization describes as a first in Quebec and Canada. Terrasse-Vaudreuil city council adopted a resolution on June 9 declaring that trees are worthy of protection, "including the right to life, to natural growth, to integrity and to regeneration." Mayor Michel Bourdeau said Quebec filmmaker André Desrochers inspired the community to take action. Desrochers' film, "Des arbes et des arts", convinced citizens that trees are living entities that live, breathe, and communicate with each other through their root systems.
"A tree is like a human being," Bourdeau said. "It breathes, it lives, it takes in water. It protects us from all sorts of things." The International Observatory of Nature Rights says the town of about 2,000 became the first municipality in Quebec and Canada to sign on to the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Tree, an international initiative spearheaded by environment groups.
Its three main articles state that trees are living beings and a common human good, that life on Earth depends on their existence, and that humans must act in "fraternity and solidarity" with them. Bourdeau says the new resolution means the town will review existing rules and bylaws to ensure trees are protected or replaced if they must be cut down. He also plans to implement measures to increase the canopy, including offering trees for residents to plant.
"Trees are a true green infrastructure," he said. "They help reduce urban heat islands, improve air quality, manage precious water resources and protect biodiversity." The move was adopted unanimously by councillors and appears popular with citizens. Bourdeau doesn't anticipate it causing problems such as interfering with development, partly because the town has no more vacant land on which to build.
Yenny Vega Cardenas, president of the International Observatory of Nature Rights, says the tree declaration is part of a broader push that has seen jurisdictions worldwide, from New Zealand to Colombia, grant legal personhood to rivers and other natural areas. In Canada, Quebec's Magpie River was granted legal rights by a regional government and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit in 2021.
