Three years of “green revolution” for MHM
Differentiated mowing at Parc Félix-Leclerc
Since 2020, more than $6 M have been invested in the planting of almost 14 000 trees on the territory of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, half of which is on public property.
Major planting operations have taken place over the past three years in Parc Félix-Leclerc, in the wooded Jean-Milot and for the creation of the wooded Honoré-Mercier, near the port.
In the borough's parks, more than 150,000 m² are now maintained using differentiated mowing, a maintenance method that aims to promote biodiversity and combat heat islands.
Carlos Park -D'Alcantara has set up a collective garden with fruit trees and arable land for the residents of the district.
The Borough, which has taken stock of the greening actions it has taken since 2020 at the dawn of COP15, is also pleased with the removal of more than 7,200 m² of asphalt and concrete from the public domain. This result was obtained by adding some twenty green alleys, various citizen greening activities and the installation of 60 draining projections.
The opposition wants more ambition
While the numbers in the balance sheet drawn up by the Borough seem strong, they do not mean much, according to the City Councilor for the Louis-Riel district for Ensemble Montreal, Alba Zuniga Ramos.
“You don’t just have to see the planting, but also the maintenance of these trees. To know how many have survived, because citizens tell me that some have already died”, she specifies to Métro, while recalling that there is no register to follow the interview trees on the territory.
Although she is delighted with the acquisition of green spaces such as that of the Boisé Steinberg, the councilor invites the administration to “be more ambitious and to adopt a global vision for green spaces, rather than acting piece by piece”.
Leader of the ecological transition?
MHM will soon unveil its 2022-2030 Climate Plan which “positions Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve as a leader in ecological transition in Montreal”, indicates the mayor of the borough, Pierre Lessard-Blais.
A much needed transition , according to Alba Zuniga Ramos, who considers the sector to be the “dark lung” of the City of Montreal.
