Several dozen people gathered on the Champ-de-Mars in Paris (VIIe), Sunday, May 15, at the call of several associations for the defense of the environment and heritage of the capital. As during a rally ten days ago, the residents, for the most part, asked for “the sanctuary of the trees and gardens of the Champ-de-Mars”, a time threatened by a project from the town hall of Paris.
The latter planned to build luggage storage for visitors and premises for employees of surrounding businesses, but this involved cutting down trees – some of them centenarians – present on the Champ-de-Mars. Faced with pressure from France Nature Environnement Paris, which threatened to take the matter to court, the City announced at the end of April that no trees would be cut down.
An official document
The demonstrators still demanded guarantees of preservation of these plants. “We are asking for something official. The town hall communicates a lot about the environment but, in fact, does exactly the opposite“, explained to AFP the secretary general of SOS Paris Philippe Khayat.
Personalities like the actor Guillaume Gallienne or the MEP Nathalie Loiseau were present in the gathering. An online petition has garnered over 137,000 signatures.