In 2020, the collaboration initiative undertaken with Mount Royal’s institutions and coordinated by Les Amis de la montagne led to the implementation of a joint ecological restoration project that continues to gain momentum. For the second year in a row, the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery (NDN) and Université de Montréal (UdeM) are working together to naturalize certain areas to better support biodiversity.

The institutional partners continue to take their inspiration from the differentiated management of green spaces (DMGS) model to transform and better maintain the exterior spaces on their properties. This approach, which can be summed up by the saying “Maintain as much as necessary, but as little as possible,” also involves concrete action such as replacing grass with a variety of native plant species, and adopting maintenance practices that respect the cycles of nature. 

During the first year of the naturalization project, the university and cemetery jointly selected five grassy test sites, each covering approximately 100 m², and had them planted with about a dozen carefully chosen species native to the mountain.

The two institutions then continued the experiment in the summer of 2022. First, they examined the new growth of the species planted the previous year. Then, the cemetery decided to open another test site, where new species were planted.

Together, the Notre-Dame-de-Neiges cemetery and Université de Montréal are paving the way for change in terms of planning and managing Mount Royal’s green spaces!

Refer to our project fact sheet for more information on the ecological restoration initiative and its benefits!