Along the 575 m of rue Claude-Bernard, in Paris (Ve), certain trees with broken branches will probably not survive the winter. Others, already dead, have just been replaced by City services this week. “Some were frankly not in good shape,” whispers a bookseller from the top of the street.
A relief for the mayor (Horizons) of the Fifth, Florence Berthout, who was sad to see these 23 trees, planted in March 2024, visibly withering away. “We planted them much too late,” complains the elected official, who assures that “three trees recently planted at Place de la Contrescarpe are also already dead.” In Paris, “we have absolutely no control over tree planting,” deplores the mayor of the Fifth. This chaotic management makes me sick, as a nature lover that I am… And this is not a political subject! »
And yet. Beyond the case of rue Claude-Bernard, the question of tree planting has become eminently political, between a majority which has made it a showcase of its environmental policy and an opposition which cries out for communication and “dogmatism” . Like the current emblematic “urban forest” project underway on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville (IVe), where 90 trees must be planted by the summer of 2025.
“With more than 200,000 trees planted in the streets and green spaces, without forgetting the more than 300,000 trees in the woods of Boulogne and Vincennes, Paris is one of the most wooded capitals in Europe,” insists the City. Which reminds us that “170,000 more must still be planted by 2026”.
In any case, this is the ambition of the “Tree Plan”, “priority road map” for the City, which plans to plant new trees until 2026, the end of the Hidalgo term, “wherever possible” : in the streets, in the form of “urban forests”, in the squares, along the ring road, in the woods…
In detail, according to City figures, Paris has 100,000 “street trees” – a line of some 700 km planted on the 1,650 public roads –, 40,000 trees in the 490 parks, gardens and municipal squares, 30,000 trees in cemeteries and, above all, no less than 300,000 trees in the Bois de Boulogne (16th century) and Vincennes (12th century).
“Questions remain”
Enough to make Paris one of the “most wooded capitals in Europe”, as the executive claims? The opposition asks to see. And above all, they wonder about the number of dead trees that would be hidden behind what they consider to be a communication exercise by the Parisian majority. During the last Paris Council, right-wing elected officials urged the executive to “detail in its communications the number of dead trees and the rate of loss of trees after their planting”.
“Since 2020, 113,714 trees have been planted out of the 170,000 trees planned,” recalled Florence Berthout, also a member of the Union Capitale opposition group, during the session. But questions remain about the effectiveness and real results of these major revegetation plans. »
The elected official wonders in particular about the methods used, and in particular the so-called “Miyawaki” method which owes its name to the botanist Akira Miyawaki. This type of planting, which should make it possible to restore forest ecosystems in urban areas in record time, is in reality far from being generalized throughout the capital.
“It's not the alpha et the omega of Parisian politics, cuts Christophe Najdovski, deputy (PS) to the mayor in charge of the revegetation of public spaces, green spaces, biodiversity and animal welfare. It is only used on certain embankments of the ring road. No trees in the 120 streets of Paris that we are going to green this winter will be planted using this method. »
“We have a transparency that no other city has in France”
Not enough to convince the mayor of the Fifth who, faced with this “nagging subject”, urged the City to take into account “dead trees as well as those felled”. “This would help us all collectively to plant more intelligently,” she believes. The City's gardeners and pruners daily deplore the weakness and deterioration of young planted plants which often die within a few weeks. »
The figures requested by the elected official do, however, exist – in part. The Paris Data site makes it possible to obtain for the year 2024 a set of geographical data presenting trees felled for safety reasons. “We have a transparency that no other city has in France,” swears Anne Hidalgo’s deputy.
According to these figures, at least 426 trees ― plane trees (61), Acer (34), Aesculus (29), birches (13)… ― were felled during the year 2024. In the majority of cases in due to “degradation of the root system” (63) or following an “irreversible physiological decline” (181 cases). It also sometimes concerns young trees “withering away or dying, without regaining vigor after planting” (60 cases). Like the species recently replaced on rue Claude-Bernard.
The districts most impacted by felling are, according to our count, the 15th, 19th and 13th centuries, with respectively 68, 64 and 53 trees felled this year.
In total, according to the municipality, less than 1.5% of the tree heritage must be felled each year for safety reasons, after control by the City's forestry staff. “A tree must be felled when it presents a risk of falling or contaminating other trees,” specifies the City. Young trees from Paris nurseries are systematically replanted. »
“When we work with living things, we know that zero risk does not exist,” concedes Christophe Najdovski. Some trees do not survive transplantation, but we must not mix everything up, the trees we plant do not die from lack of maintenance. This is a lack of respect for the work of our agents and a denial of reality. »
And the elected socialist to rely on the City Canopy index, which measures the relationship between the projection on the ground of the forest cover (that is to say its shadow) and the total surface area of a territory . Clearly, the higher the index, the more the territory is covered with trees. In the capital, it would have “gone from 21 to 23% in five years”. “Proof that the number of trees in Paris is increasing and that the trees are living better and better,” appreciates the deputy.
