Avignon will carry out an inventory and a diagnosis of its 18,500 trees
After having voted, a year and a half ago, a tree charter, the City adds a related branch on its tree heritage: the establishment of a cartographic inventory, a diagnosis and a management plan current until 2026. During the last city council ten days ago, the elected officials acted a group of orders with the Grand Avignon to draw up this inventory aimed at ” strengthen the preservation, enhancement, management, protection and securing of their tree heritage “. According to existing data, Avignon has 18,500 trees, of which 3,500 are managed by the urban community.
Adapt to trees
and not the reverse
Source of freshness, action on air quality, regulation of rainwater, the benefits of trees are legion. ” I easily dare to find a mayor who is happy to cut down trees “, Underlines the PS mayor, Cécile Helle, responding to the attacks of Anne-Sophie Rigault (RN), lamenting “ see dead plane trees on boulevard Saint-Michel », accusing the majority of « caress “. “ Since 2014, we have been pursuing an ambitious policy because before, there was no reasoned management “, defends Cécile Helle. ” For one felled tree, we replant three “, continues the first magistrate. ” We do not necessarily see right away because we do not always replant in the same place “says Laurence Lefèvre, quality of life assistant.
Today, there is no longer any question of chain-cutting healthy trees to make way for urban projects. For any building site now, according to Cécile Helle, “ it is the developer who adapts to the tree ” and not the reverse. The works of the station are cited as an example “ where rather than waiting for saplings to grow and shade, we conserve what can be », illustrates Isabelle Portefaix, Deputy Delegate for the Sustainable City. ” As soon as we requalify the space, we replant “, continues Laurence Lefèvre, speaking of schoolyards or the project of rue Thiers. Faced with disease, such as canker stain, slaughter is inevitable to stop the contagion. But the number of trees affected is, according to the City, increased, in five years, from 301 to 68. We tackled the problem head-on, which slowed the spread of the disease “, welcomes Cécile Helle.