In the courtyards of buildings or the gardens of apartment buildings, sometimes majestic, beautiful and unusual trees hide. The city of Paris has decided to list this one “remarkable trees” on a special participatory platform and calls for the mobilization of local residents. Objective: to protect these plants when there is a risk of uprooting, especially during work.
“We know there are nuggets in the private park and we want to protect them”, said Christophe Najdovski, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of replanting public spaces, green spaces and biodiversity. On Monday, March 7, the elected official announced the launch of a new platform: the Paris Tree Observatory, reports 20 minutes† The result of a collaboration with the Council of Architecture, Urbanism and Environment of Paris, this new collaboration site plans to inventory the trees “remarkable” of the city’s private property, which would have 100,000 in total. “This figure is only an estimate”specifies Christophe Najdovski, who underlines the contrast with the “very good knowledge” of the 500,000 trees in the public domain of Paris.
Specifically, Parisians are invited to report a tree “interesting” on the platform, according to different criteria. “Beauty, age, size, history, legends, customs, rarity, curiosities” are among the elements that should help them in their choice, the Observatory website indicates, which specifies that: “however, the remarkable character of a tree can still be felt”† A guide is also provided to explain to citizens how to identify a tree.
Protection of trees, necessary ramparts against urban warming
The purpose of this count is simple: to protect these extraordinary plants. “If a Parisian reports a tree in a condominium, our teams can recognize it and put a label on it. So that in the next local urban plan, the bioclimatic PLU, we can protect it from projects that could harm it,” explains Christophe Najdovski, Quoted by 20 minutes. Some identified trees may be labeled “remarkable trees” while “evaluation of the most exceptional trees can lead to recognition at national level”specifies the location of the Observatory.
Labeled in this way, the trees would be protected from the risks of uprooting that may occur during the works. Indeed, in October 2021, Anne Hidalgo’s first deputy had presented his new PLU, including the possibility for the Paris City Hall to issue building permits “under certain ecological constraints”remember 20 minutes† “We can keep planting trees, but it is more effective to protect what already exists”concludes Christophe Najdovski, who emphasizes that trees “the best weapon against warming temperatures in the city”†