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Once again, Montrealers show their attachment to the mountain

Corvée Mountain Clean-up, Sunday, May 10, 2009

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Corvée Mountain Clean-up, Sunday, May 10:

ONCE AGAIN, MONTREALERS SHOW THEIR ATTACHMENT TO THE MOUNTAIN

Montreal, May 10, 2009 – Under grey skies, more than 300 Montrealers showed their attachment to the mountain by participating in the 18th edition of the Corvée du Mont-Royal mountain clean-up this morning, giving Mother Nature a hand on Mother’s Day.

Since 1990, this annual springtime tradition has allowed close to 11,000 individuals make a concrete gesture for their mountain, including the collection of close to 5,000 bags of garbage and the planting of more than 5,000 trees.

For this 18th edition of the clean-up, more than 60 bags of trash were collected from only 40% of the park’s territory, with the discovery of an increased number of illegal campsites, a problem on the rise. In total, six makeshift campsites were taken down, including mattresses, sleeping bags and camp fires.

About one third of the participants planted 500 indigenous trees and shrubs including the Hemlock, Sugar Maple, Shadblow Serviceberry and Cranberry-Tree, in two areas around Beaver Lake.

Two teams of volunteers evaluated previous tree plantings and two teams cut down some common buckthorn, an exotic invasive species on the mountain.

Photos: Andrew Dobrowolskyj, 2009

The Corvée du Mont-Royal is the flagship event of “May 2009: Mount Royal Month”, which is the original idea of Les amis de la montagne, realized jointly with the Ville de Montréal, thanks to the generosity of TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. May is a month of activities dedicated to the discovery and conservation of the natural environment and the exploration of the many facets of the mountain.

“May 2009: Mount Royal Month” calendar of events

A conference on the mountain’s geology will be held on May 13 as part of the Université de Montréal’s “Belles Soirées” (in French). The public will be able to participate in two guided walks with specialists from Les amis de la montagne on the topic of geology on May 20 and on the topic of ornithology on May 22.

The 5th Prix du Mont-Royal will be awarded on May 25 by Les amis de la montagne and the Ville de Montréal to an individual whose vision and commitment to the preservation of the mountain’s heritage is an inspiration to us all.

On Wednesday, May 27 and Thursday, May 28, the 2nd edition of the exhibit “Sur le toit de Montréal” will be on view at Smith House. This exhibit features works by more than 400 elementary school students in the form of posters created collectively by each class. The project was made possible by the Programme de soutien à l’école montréalaise du ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport and Les amis de la montagne, in partnership with the Université de Montréal, St-Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal and the cavalry unit of the SPVM.

Activities of the mountain’s great institutions

The activities of eight of the mountain’s great institutions are included for the first time in the calendar of Mount Royal Month events: the cavalry unit of the SPVM, Cimetière Mont-Royal, Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, Musée McCord, Musée Redpath, Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal, Université de Montréal (Les Belles Soirées) and Université McGill.

The complete calendar of activities organized as part of Mount Royal Month is available on the following websites: lemontroyal.qc.ca and ville.montreal.qc.ca/bureaumontroyal.

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