France Declaration of the Rights of the Tree 2019 (Déclaration des droits de l’Arbre)

Summary

On 5 April 2019, a Déclaration des droits de l’Arbre was presented during a colloquium organized by the French association A.R.B.R.E.S. (Arbres Remarquables: Bilan, Recherche, Études et Sauvegarde) held at the National Assembly in France. The text is a civil-society declaration drafted by A.R.B.R.E.S. that was expressly presented as a proposal for future legal development. Legislative reform recognizing trees as living beings deserving stronger legal protection, was not enacted through the declaration itself.

The objective of the colloquium was to discuss improved legal protection for trees and to proclaim the declaration. The colloquium included MP Delphine Batho, then a Member of the National Assembly and former Minister of Ecology, together with A.R.B.R.E.S. president Georges Feterman. Other participants included legal scholar Valérie Cabanes, arborist Augustin Bonnardot, agronomist Béatrice Rizzo, and gardener and writer Alain Baraton.

The declaration contains four articles: Article 1 defines the tree as a living organism occupying both the soil and the atmosphere through its roots and crown and describes its ecological functions; Article 2 states that the tree is a living being sensitive to changes in its environment and should not be reduced to a simple object, and affirms that trees require sufficient underground and above-ground space for their full development and that damage to branches, trunks, root systems, or exposure to toxic substances weakens them; Article 3 states that trees should be respected throughout their entire life cycle and proposes that they be considered subjects of law, including within rules governing human property; and Article 4 argues that certain remarkable trees, because of their age, appearance or history, should receive enhanced protection as shared bio-cultural heritage comparable to natural monuments.

Following its presentation, A.R.B.R.E.S. launched a campaign inviting French municipalities to adopt the declaration symbolically through municipal council resolutions. According to the association, numerous communes have adopted the text since 2019, including cities such as Bordeaux, Bayeux, Bobigny, Caen and Fontainebleau, with additional municipalities continuing to join in subsequent years. These municipal adoptions express political support but do not create new legal rights for trees under French law.

The 2019 Déclaration des droits de l’Arbre should not be confused with the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights. The A.R.B.R.E.S. declaration is an independent French civil-society initiative proposed on 5 April, 2019 and promoted through symbolic municipal endorsements. It does not form part of the institutional development, governance or drafting process of the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights. Neither Delphine Batho nor A.R.B.R.E.S. founded, drafted, co-developed or institutionally supported the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights; likewise, the latter’s authors did not participate in drafting or adopting the A.R.B.R.E.S. declaration.

Involved Organizations