TERRASSE-VAUDREUIL, QUEBEC – In a groundbreaking move, the small municipality of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, located west of Montreal, has officially recognized trees as living beings with inherent rights. This decision, ratified by the city council on June 9, marks a significant environmental milestone, described by an environmental organization as a first for both Quebec and Canada.

Trees Declared Sentient Beings with Rights

The resolution adopted by the council proclaims that trees are deserving of protection, encompassing the “right to life, to natural growth, to integrity and to regeneration.” Mayor Michel Bourdeau explained that the initiative was inspired by Quebec filmmaker André Desrochers, whose film, “Des arbes et des arts,” effectively conveyed the message that trees are living entities that breathe, grow, and communicate through their root systems.

“A tree is like a human being,” Mayor Bourdeau stated. “It breathes, it lives, it takes in water. It protects us from all sorts of things.”

International Declaration Signed

Furthermore, the International Observatory of Nature Rights has confirmed that Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a community of approximately 2,000 residents, is the first municipality in Quebec and Canada to endorse the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Tree. This international initiative, spearheaded by environmental groups, asserts three core principles: trees are living beings and a common good for humanity; life on Earth is dependent on their existence; and humans must engage with them in “fraternity and solidarity.”

Implications for Local Governance and Environment

Mayor Bourdeau indicated that the new resolution will prompt a review of existing town bylaws to ensure robust protection for trees or mandates for their replacement if removal is necessary. Plans are also underway to enhance the town’s tree canopy, including initiatives to provide trees for residents to plant.

“Trees are a true green infrastructure,” Bourdeau emphasized. “They help reduce urban heat islands, improve air quality, manage precious water resources and protect biodiversity.”

The decision received unanimous support from councillors and has been met with apparent enthusiasm from residents. Mayor Bourdeau anticipates no significant challenges, particularly as the town has limited vacant land available for development. He believes Terrasse-Vaudreuil is a natural fit for this role, given its wooded setting, the residents’ appreciation for a rural lifestyle, and their firsthand experience with the impacts of extreme weather and climate change, having faced floods multiple times in recent years.

“When it comes to fighting climate change, our biggest ally is the trees,” he added.

Broader Movement for Nature’s Rights

Yenny Vega Cardenas, president of the International Observatory of Nature Rights, highlighted that this declaration aligns with a global movement granting legal personhood to rivers and other natural elements in various jurisdictions, from New Zealand to Colombia. She noted that Canada has seen similar actions, such as the Magpie River in Quebec being granted legal rights in 2021.

Vega Cardenas stressed the unique significance of the tree declaration, recognizing each tree as a self-contained ecosystem capable of providing essential resources and habitat. “We need to understand that (trees) have dignity and they have senses,” she explained. “Not sentiments, but senses … They can feel and they communicate with each other in a very specific way.”

Karine Péloffy, a lawyer with Ecojustice, commended Terrasse-Vaudreuil’s action as a “very hopeful gesture in the broader movement for the rights of nature.” She challenged the notion that granting legal status to trees is unusual, drawing a parallel to corporate legal personhood.

“We know corporations have legal personhood and rights and they are definitely not living,” Péloffy stated in a recent interview. “So if some nonliving things can have legal personhood, what’s stopping living beings from equally getting legal personhood?”

She further argued, “What do trees do if not standing? If anything has standing, it’s a tree.”