Paris City Hall cut 42 trees, including two hundred-year-old trees, public opinion strongly reacts

Trees around the Eiffel Tower in Paris – Photo: AFP

It all happened in a short time. Immediately after the Paris City Hall announced a plan to renew the area around the Eiffel Tower with the felling of 42 trees, including two hundred-year-old trees, the project was strongly criticized by public opinion.

Finally, Paris City Hall had to decide to suspend the plan to cut down trees on the Champ-de-Mars square near the famous Eiffel Tower with the promise “no trees will be cut down”.

Voice of a young journalist

According to the Télé-Loisirs newspaper, it all started with the announcement of the government’s announcement of a project called OnE I, renovating the area around the Eiffel Tower to prepare for the establishment of works to welcome the Paris 2024 Olympics. On April 28, Young environmental journalist Hugo Clément immediately stepped in through an online petition of the French Natural Environment Organization called “Eiffel Tower: Say NO to felling trees, say NO to concreting green spaces.” has been classified as a monument”.

On the social network Instagram, journalist Hugo Clément urged people to sign the petition: “Cutting down old trees to build office buildings and for tourists? Unacceptable. Let’s join together. Let’s ask Anne Hidalgo (the mayor of Paris) and the Paris city government to abandon this tree felling project.”

The petition was shared by many famous figures in Paris and France on their social media accounts as well as voiced their support through media channels. In just a few days, the petition gained more than 30,000 signatures, forcing Paris City Hall to make concessions.

On April 30, Mr. Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy mayor of Paris, had to explain to the public via his Twitter account: “We promise not to cut down any old trees. The project improves the surrounding landscape. The Eiffel Tower has been making progress since 2019. Soon we will announce the details to the public.”

Journalist Hugo Clément immediately continued: “This is only the first step, it is necessary not to cut down even trees under a hundred years old! It is important to avoid felling and concreting. Luggage storage for travelers Guests and offices are not so necessary. Trees and green spaces are necessary”.

“It’s good to plant trees, don’t cut them down even better”

Mr. Emmanuel Grégoire once tried to explain for the project of the French capital government: “This project will improve the working environment for the staff who receive visitors to the Eiffel Tower and surrounding gardens.” . The character who is considered the right-hand man of female mayor Anne Hidalgo also spoke more clearly about felling and planting new trees: “We are studying how to avoid cutting down 42 trees as announced and also plant 222 more in the area. this area”.

The Paris government argues that the “clear improvement” of the landscape around the most famous tourist destination in France is not only by “refreshing Paris” for the Olympic event, but also to retain and attract tourists to visit Paris. capital up to 7 million people per year. The government’s project is explained as aimed at creating more space for pedestrians, as well as electric vehicles and also “development of natural space”.

Economic benefits and additional jobs, however, do not convince the majority to protect the natural environment. The government says the tree-planting project actually created more than 16,000 square meters of green space with new plants. But journalist Hugo Clément immediately replied: “It is better to plant a new one. It is better not to cut it down”.

French media also recalled that not long ago, the Paris city government was fiercely questioned by the French Natural Environment Organization regarding the felling of 77 trees in the Montreuil gateway area. The government explained that they needed to renovate the area and planted 20,000 new trees within 5 months. Not to mention that the government has a project called the Planting Plan, which will plant up to 170,000 new trees in Paris until 2026 to create “5 inner-city forests” and “4 green parks”. new.

But regardless of the justifications, the people only asked to plant more, not cut down.

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