The Collectif Canopée and representatives of the City of Lévis gathered on June 20 in the schoolyard of the Auberivière primary school for the launch of the greening project for the territory called Lévis — Ville branchée.
Launched in 2023, the Collectif Canopée is a non-profit organization (NPO) dedicated to greening urban and peri-urban areas in the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions. The NPO aims to “significantly increase the canopy of these environments by planting 70,000 trees by 2031.”
During its first year of activities, the Canopée Collective organized a first intensive tree planting in the territory of Quebec City. Moreover, the organization aspires to plan the planting of 10,000 trees per year from 2024 thanks to partnerships with the municipalities of Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches.
For its part, the City of Lévis had committed, through its 2022-2024 environmental policy, to launching an action plan with 15 commitments, including greening the City, maintaining a quality urban forest and enriching the canopy. Thus, the planting program on non-municipal land in the City of Lévis is coordinated by the Collectif Canopée.
The Lévis — Villebranchee project therefore aims to plant a total of 600 trees on non-municipal lands in Lévis. The kick-off was given in the courtyard of the Auberivière school, while the students and representatives of the City and the collective planted nine trees.
“The City of Lévis is proud to participate in phase 2 of the City’s greening project. 600 trees will be distributed to institutions and citizens. We are talking about a total value of $215,000. In 2023, we began the process by choosing sites and choosing species. To return to the 2023 results, 2,500 trees were planted, including 1,159 which came from the City nursery. These sums invested come from a green fund which was created to promote citizen mobilization and the realization of projects in line with environmental policy,” explained Fleur Paradis, municipal councilor of Lauzon and president of the Environment Commission of the City of Lévis.
A first step
The Auberivière school therefore volunteered to participate in this plan of the City and the collective. For the school, this is a project that is directly in line with their intentions for the future of the schoolyard.
“I would like to thank the Collectif Canopée and the City of Lévis for allowing us to plant these trees at very low cost. It’s really super! This is the first step in a long line at our school since we really want to try to develop the outdoor classroom. Who says outdoor class means we need shade. This is what we are currently developing and the children are very interested in the project,” rejoiced Julie Noël, director of the primary school.
