Like you, 80% of Canadians live in cities. The trees in our neighbourhoods provide us with many services, such as cooling the air, and support biodiversity. So you may be surprised to learn that we know very little about the trees in our own backyards. This is why we need your help! 

We are researchers from UQAM, Sherbrooke and Concordia universities who have set up an urban observatory, comprised of 25 plots throughout the island of Montreal. We aim to better understand how trees shape our communities. You can check out our interactive map online!  

Why is it so important to study public AND private trees? Current research on the urban forest has generally been limited to public trees due to data availability and access. However, this means that over 50% of urban trees are excluded from studies, leading to potentially biased results. This is where you come in!

Ready to help? Go to this page to create an account and start entering your trees! Don’t worry, there’s plenty of help and instructions online too. Your trees help increase biodiversity in the metropolitan area and provide essential services to our residents. Note that we are interested in your trees whether you are located inside one of our 25 main plots or not, so long as you are on the island of Montreal.

The Urban Observatory Team