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While much of our national identity is tied to our natural environment, Canadians haven’t always taken the proper steps to preserve, protect and promote the urban forests that breathe so much life into our communities.

Due to poor city planning, climate change and invasive insects like the emerald ash borer, urban tree cover has been in precipitous decline throughout most of Canada over the past two decades. Making matters worse, our government has been slow to react; Canada is significantly behind other G7 countries in the value we place on urban forests. In the United States, management of urban forests falls under the responsibility of an individual equivalent to a Canadian deputy minister.

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But important steps are being taken to redress the situation at home. To help the city increase its urban tree cover to 25 per cent — a goal laid out years ago in Plan d’action canopé — Canadian National Railway is leading a movement within the Montreal business community, working closely with other large corporations and 40 community partners (known as the Alliance forêt urbaine) to plant 50,000 new trees and other plants in Montreal by 2022. This concrete gesture for the environment is part of a desire to improve the health of the population.