Despite the ravages of the emerald ash borer, the Montréal agglomeration managed to achieve, three years earlier than expected, a canopy index exceeding 25% on its territory.
For the island of Montreal, which includes Montreal and the 15 related cities, the canopy index is 25.3%, while for the territory of the City of Montreal, it is 24.3%. Remember that the canopy index corresponds to the percentage of the area occupied by the crown of trees.
This performance is attributable to the massive planting of trees. Thus, during the year 2021, the City of Montreal planted a record number of trees, i.e. 33,841, including nearly 19,000 on public property. On the other hand, nearly 11,500 trees had to be felled during the same period. Between 2012 and 2021, 123,518 trees were added to the urban forest.
On Friday, the head of large parks on the executive committee, Caroline Bourgeois, indicated that in light of these results, the City has decided to raise the canopy index target to 26%, rather than 25%, for 2025. “This new target would add 6 km2 of plantations, which is equivalent to three times the area of Mount Royal Park,” explained Ms. Bourgeois. Montreal is also aiming to plant 500,000 trees on its territory by 2030, both on public and private property.
The emerald ash borer, a pest detected in Montreal in 2011, continues to affect urban forests. Last year, Montreal treated 17,518 public ash trees and felled 5,524 others. The City continues to provide financial assistance to owners who must have their ash trees felled and offers a treatment service for private ash trees that cannot be saved.
For the moment, the City does not plan to put an end to the treatment of ash trees which, in the long term, are condemned. The objective of treating the ash trees was not to save all the trees, but to slow down their mortality so as to prevent neighborhoods from being denuded of trees, recalled Anthony Daniel, planning adviser at the Service des grands parcs, du Mount Royal and sports. The replacement of ash trees is therefore done gradually. “In fact, the borer is becoming less and less of a threat because eventually there won’t be any trees left that aren’t treated and the borer population is expected to decline. Maybe eventually, we can space out the treatments, ”said Mr. Daniel.