EN BREF | UN GESTE HISTORIQUE POUR LES ARBRES À TERRASSE-VAUDREUIL

[June 22, 2026] Félix Sabourin – Journalist – CSUR.TV – Vaudreuil-Soulanges – IJL Terrasse-Vaudreuil took a historic step on June 9 during its council meeting. The small town of nearly 2,000 inhabitants, west of Montreal, became the first municipality in the world to endorse the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Trees. In an interview live from Paris, Ricardo Rey, author and initiator of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Trees, explains the origins of this petition, which has garnered over 87,000 signatures and will be submitted to the United Nations. The concept first gained traction with elected officials during a screening of the documentary "Trees and the Arts" by André Desrochers. The strong interest from citizens led the Terrasse-Vaudreuil Environment Committee to propose that the municipality endorse the Declaration. Yenny Vega Cárdenas, president of the International Observatory for the Rights of Nature, was present during the discussions. By taking this bold step, Terrasse-Vaudreuil adheres to the three fundamental principles of the Declaration: that the Tree, a sentient living being and source of Life, is a common good of humanity; that life on the planet depends on the existence of the Tree; and that human beings, endowed with reason and conscience, must act towards the Tree in a spirit of fraternity and solidarity.