City of Montreal commits to protecting pollinators

Montreal is taking its commitment to biodiversity even further. On Wednesday, the city announced it’s adopting a long-term plan to protect and promote pollinators.

“The pollinator protection plan we are announcing today sets the stage for COP 15 on biodiversity and should serve as an example,” said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante. “When it comes to protecting biodiversity and the food chain, pollinators are extremely important, considering that a third of the world’s food depends on pollination, which is seriously threatened.”

Plante says that Montreal is a leader in the protection of biodiversity and she intends to keep it that way. “As ICLEI Global Ambassador for Local Biodiversity and Urban Nature Ambassador for C40, it is a responsibility that I will continue to carry out both locally and internationally. It is also a great pride to mobilize the population for this action plan.”

A five-year plan with 14 concrete actions

The plan includes three areas of intervention, as well as 14 actions to be implemented over five years, including: conserve, create and connect green spaces, by increasing the land area of protected natural environments to 10% by 2030. The city currently has approximately 8% of protected territory and, to reach the target, it will need to add approximately 1,000 hectares of protected territory, the equivalent five times Mount Royal.

Other measures it intends to take will be developing at least five ecological corridor projects favorable to pollinators, and revising the 19 by-laws on cleanliness and nuisances in order to allow landscaping favorable to pollinators, as well as vegetable gardens.

• • Improve the conditions of pollinator habitats
  • Promote the reduction of mowing frequency and differentiated management
  • Documenting through science and citizen participation
  • Monitor pollinator populations through at least three ecological inventory programs, including participatory science programs in Montreal

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, congratulated the city administration on the news.

“The Montreal plan is a promising and timely initiative, especially as the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity is fast approaching,” she said. “Pollinators are essential for maintaining healthy biodiversity and ecosystem services, and I look forward to seeing the results and positive impacts of this important plan.”

The David Suzuki Foundation also welcomed the news. “The plan put forward by the City of Montreal will promote the creation of new habitats essential to maintaining urban biodiversity in addition to increasing the resilience of Montrealers in the face of climate change,” said Catherine Hallmich, scientific projects manager for the organization.

(CREDIT: Martin Daigle/CityNews)

Aiming for even more biodiversity in Montreal

The adoption of this new plan is part of the measures put in place by Montreal to protect and restore biodiversity. Recent measures include the creation of the Grand Parc de l’Ouest, the creation of green infrastructure, and the conversion of 50% of Parc Frédéric-Back back into a meadow.

Reacting to the news, Stéphanie Valenzuela, Official Opposition Critic for the Environment, said in an email statement: “We are pleased that the Plante administration is finally honoring the commitment it made four years ago by adopting the motion of Ensemble Montréal for the City of Montreal to develop a strategy to protect pollinators. However, it is a pity to have waited so long and that it took the next COP15 to motivate the administration to present it. Now that it’s done, our training will ensure that we don’t need another four years for the commitments unveiled today to be put in place.”

COP 15 in December

Next month, Montreal is hosting COP 15, a United Nations conference during which nearly 200 countries will be called upon to commit to concrete actions to halt the loss of global biodiversity over the coming decade.

Montreal residents who want to do their part to support the city’s biodiversity, including its emblematic pollinator, the monarch butterfly, can obtain milkweed seeds free of charge from Montreal’s seed libraries and the Insectarium.