When trees become citizens: A lesson in redefining progress

It would be too much to ask of a society as populous and in a hurry like India. But in the Canadian municipality of Terrasse-Vaudreuil near Montreal, citizens have recognised trees not just as living beings but as 'biggest allies' and have granted them rights.

It's tempting to sit in our '6th largest economy' pea soup and see this as a mere First World 'hippie-type' legal curiosity. But the move is a declaration of a fact that applies everywhere: nature isn't a backdrop to human life but a participant in it. By recognising trees as entities part of the ecosystem, environmental stewardship is elevated from principle to policy.

Quality of life is inseparable from the health of one's surroundings.


A polluted river diminishes quality of life as surely as a broken streetlight. When communities extend their sense of belonging to include trees, parks, clean air, they cultivate a culture that values continuity, restraint and care, qualities as valuable to enterprise as they are to life.

Rights of trees are, in effect, rights of citizens to breathe clean air, enjoy shade, and live in surroundings that nourish, not degrade. Such a policy mindset is far more likely to treat its members with a better standard of living than abstractions of progress.

The act of protecting trees isn't far removed from protecting a neighbourhood from neglect. Both spring from the same ethic: the commons matter. The Canadian town's move should serve as a pointer that modernity is not measured only in GDP, or moving to 'better climes', but in living well everyday.

A strong civic sense that incorporates paying attention to the quality of one's surroundings - and not just inside one's homes, buildings, workplaces - creates cities that are humane and efficient.