TRUE OR FALSE. Did Paris City Hall cut down trees along the Seine in preparation for the 2024 Olympics?

The city has been accused on social media of cutting down trees because of the organization of the opening ceremony at the end of the month. The city hall says it is a security measure and denies any connection with the Olympics.

Chainsaw blows that are causing a stir just over three weeks before the start of the Paris Olympic Games. “They are cutting down all the big trees on the banks for fear that they will fall on the opening ceremony.”an Internet user was outraged, with a photo to support his claim, on the social network X, on Wednesday July 3, in a publication shared more than 1,000 times.

Several Internet users, including “Quentin Divernois”, an Internet user under a pseudonym who regularly denounces the felling of Parisian trees and the management of green spaces by the socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, have argued that these fellings were not announced on the free access platforms relating to the trees of the capital, nor on the interactive map of sanitary fellings and plantations, nor in the municipality’s tree felling schedule for the first two weeks of July, accessible on Paris.fr.

The city hall had however warned. On its X account, the management of green spaces of the city of Paris in fact reported in a little relayed message that“A verification tour identified three trees in danger of falling”Two of them are located in the Federico Garcia Lorca square, not far from the City Hall, in the 4th arrondissement, and a third at the Port du Louvre, in the 1st arrondissement. “As the timing of their fall is unpredictable, they will be urgently slaughtered this week, in order to ensure public safety.”warned the green spaces management.

Faced with the growing controversy, the city of Paris also reacted on Thursday July 4 on X, denouncing “fake news”. “Three trees presented a risk of unpredictable fall, as they were no longer firmly anchored in the ground”she explained. “As always, new trees will be replanted as replacements next winter.”

Quoted by France Bleu, the Paris city hall assured that this felling had not “no link” with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, scheduled to take place along the Seine on Friday, July 26, ensuring that verification tours took place regularly and at all times.

On Paris.fr, the city assures that it has “more than 500,000 trees”. Every year, “It is less than 1.5% of the tree heritage that must be cut down and always for safety reasons”a rate “entirely comparable, if not lower, than that of other large metropolises”concludes the Paris city hall.