A French arborist camping out in a 200-year-old plane tree at the foot of the Eiffel Tower has got Paris to row back on a development project that endangers dozens of trees. But Thomas Brail is staying on hunger strike until he gets government assurances to better protect trees nationwide. "It's my role as a dad to protect my four-year-old son's future," he told RFI.
Brail set up camp in the tree last Monday in support of a number of groups campaigning against a €72 million scheme to develop tourist facilities around the Eiffel Tower ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The campaigners said the OnE project would involve cutting down well-established trees – vital in the fight to mitigate against global warming in cities – and would threaten the root system of three plane trees once protected by Gustav Eiffel himself.
Following discussions between Paris city hall and the tree protectors, the council has agreed to review the project.
Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire promised that no trees in the Champs-de-Mars garden around the tower would be felled.
Campaigners have welcomed the announcement, but say it’s too early to claim victory.
“The discussions were pleasant and positive overall,” Tangui Le Dantec, scientific advisor to the NGO France Nature Environment and founder of Aux Arbres Citoyens, told RFI.
“But we must be vigilant. They gave us verbal assurances the trees would not be cut down, but the planning permits are still in place.
"For the moment the trees are on borrowed time."
Le Dantec said campaigners would keep up the pressure until they were "saved".
Nous remercions E. Grégoire pour le dialogue de qualité de vendredi qui devrait permettre d'épargner les arbres et la nature au Champ-de-Mars. Malheureusement, pour quelques arbres sauvés ici, combien sont abattus ailleurs pour surdensifier Paris ? #SanctuariserLaNatureÀParis pic.twitter.com/ysveWp54Sg
— SOS Paris (@SOSParis) June 6, 2022
Another meeting with officials is scheduled for mid-July, after the legislative elections, when Le Dantec hopes to have promises in writing and the permits ripped up.
He insists their fight is "pacifist and positive", designed to get improvements that will "benefit everyone".
The groups' recommendations include moving the building of facilities such as toilets "which could be useful" from open ground where there are trees to areas that are already tarmacked.
Protecting son's future
Brail has also welcomed the council's U-turn, but he has longer-term concerns.
He denounced France’s growing use of clearfelling forests as "unsustainable" due to its impact on biodiversity.
And a recent modification to article L350-3 of the environmental code is endangering trees in urban areas in particular.
"Any tree in a city or along the roadside in France can now be chopped down in the name of 'development'," he warned.
Brail recently made an appeal to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who had shown sympathy for his cause back in 2019 when she was ecology minister.
On 4 June, Brail went on hunger strike.
“It’s probably the only way to get the government to move on this," he told RFI, perched 14 metres high up in the 207-year-old plane tree.
“Here in France we’re not at all good at protecting trees, but it's urgent.
"People need to wake up and realise that if we don't have resilient forests, we won’t be able to face the challenges of global warming."
Brail founded the National Group for the Surveillance of Trees (GNSA) in 2019, but recognises that many groups are campaigning on these issues.
“I wanted to go further because I have a four-year-old little boy and I’m worried about his future. It’s my role as a dad to protect him."
He points to warnings by the IPCC that emissions must be halved by 2030 if the world is to cap warming at 1.5°C and stave off the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
Olive branch
The GNSA has been working hard lobbying politicians to respond to Brail’s request for discussions.
On Tuesday they bore the first signs of fruit.
The Minister for Ecological Transition, Amélie de Montchalin, announced she was ready to meet Brail to reinforce tree protection, notably in towns.
“I have heard your call. I welcome your commitment to biodiversity and I share it," she tweeted.
.@BrailThomas, j’ai entendu votre appel. Je salue votre engagement pour la biodiversité et je le partage. J’ai porté l’interdiction de la coupe des arbres d’alignement dans la loi 3DS. Je vous propose un échange pour renforcer ensemble leur protection et leur présence en ville. https://t.co/vbIKswplrk
— Amélie de Montchalin (@AdeMontchalin) June 7, 2022
Prior to that announcement, Brail told RFI that there were "no limits" as to how far he was prepared to go.
But if discussions were opened with the government "there would clearly be no reason to carry on the hunger strike".
