Montreal increases urban forest by more than 25,000 trees

The City of Montreal says they increased urban forest by more than 25,000 trees last year -- a record amount -- as a network of partners is planting on public and private properties to increase the green canopy.

Montreal's administration says more than 53,000 trees were planted to replace ones felled by weather and parasites.

"We don't have the number of all the trees affected by the ice storm but we will have those data in the next few months," said the executive committee vice-chair, Caroline Bourgeois.

Four days after the storm in early April, the Ccity of Montreal estimated that 900 trees had been destroyed. The city has committed to replacing all affected trees.

Yet, Anthony Daniel, who advises the city on large parks, says the ice storm was dramatic but not as destructive as a certain beetle.

"It's almost nothing, the ice storm." he said. "If we compare it with emerald ash borer, for which we lost thousands of trees."

He also says the emerald ash borer is around but is under control, with almost 3,000 ash trees felled in 2022, approximately half as many in 2021.

An app called "Branché" is coming in September to show citizens the locations of new trees, but Malin Anagrius of Soverdi, a non-profit greening society involved in the planting, says to just look around.

"You can see them everywhere when you go around, in the streets, in the schoolyard. We all work together and they're everywhere," she said.

The city says it's replanting to combat climate change, with the goal of planting 500,000 trees by 2030.