Adopt a Tree Square!

Adopt a Tree Square! ????

This year, the Friends of the Montréal Biodôme have decided to join forces with the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve eco-neighbourhood (éco-quartier) for its tree square adoption project! 

Did you know? Every year in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, you can adopt tree squares. Whether very small or very large, these spaces surrounding 

city trees are often plain or unsightly. However, with a little TLC, it is possible to turn this patch of dirt into a beautiful flower garden for the summer months! In addition to brightening up the borough, adopting these tree squares also encourages biodiversity to become a mainstay along our streets! 

The Friends of the Biodôme adopt two tree squares!

Since the Biodôme is often associated with animals, where we mostly address biodiversity, we invite our members who live in the neighbourhood to adopt their own tree square. As for the Friends of the Biodôme, we will adopt two tree squares this summer and tell you all about our experience! Follow us on social media for special reports on the seeds we will plant and the events planned around the adopted tree squares! 

 

 

Free seeds for the first 40 participants!

The first 40 members who adopt a tree square will receive three packets of seeds to help them bring some greenery to their new square! To get the seeds, you must show us your tree square adoption form. Send us this proof of tree square adoption by e-mail at lesamisdubiodome@montreal.ca or bring it to us at our counter in the Biodôme. Your seeds will be available for pickup in person at the Friends of the Biodôme counter starting on May 15. It will also be possible to pick up your seed packets on May 29, 2021, at our stand during the plant distribution day organized by the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve eco-neighbourhood at Parc Lalancette (2315 Nicolet Street). The seeds given to members can all be sowed directly into the ground. *You will also get a little sign to proudly highlight your inv

olvement in the program.  

Contest????

All members who adopt a tree square in the borough will be eligible to enter a contest! Tree squares will be judged on aesthetics and abundance of greenery, and also your ingenuity throughout the summer. The winner will be decided by a popular vote to be held in early October. Participants have until October 1 to send us a photo of their planted tree square for judging purposes.

 

My Space for Life Garden  

????Your tree square also allows you to take part in the My Space for Life Garden program. In addition to getting your tree square certified as a “Biodiversity Garden,” you can have it identified on an interactive map via the Gardenaut gallery! Don’t hesitate to subscribe to My Garden, a newsletter where you’ll get lots of tips on taking care of your garden throughout the summer.????

 

© Le jardin des vie-la-joie (Borage, Myosotis and Fireweed)

* The signs are designed to be used for several years. It is therefore important to bring the sign indoors when fall arrives so you can install it again the following year.

Cans for Corridors

Cans for Corridors is a project started by the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas or IPÊ (Ecological Research Institute), a conservation organization in Brazil that promotes the conservation of Brazilian biodiversity. The project involves collecting aluminum cans and using the deposit refund to pay for the planting of trees to establish green corridors in the Brazilian tropical rainforest. These tree corridors are used to connect fragmented forests, therefore breaking the isolation of animal species severely affected by deforestation. In addition to helping animals move safely around and find food, the planted trees contribute to increased genetic diversity for reproduction purposes, and therefore greater chances of survival. 

 

Many animal species found at the Biodôme are using the green corridors that have already been planted in Brazil. They include the capybara, Seba’s short-tailed bat and Pallas’s long-tongued bat, the giant toad, the yacare caiman, the scarlet macaw, the rufous-collared sparrow, the turkey vulture, the blue-crowned motmot, the white-faced whistling duck, the wattled jacana, the saffron finch, the burnished-buff tanager and the blue dacnis.

 

To help these animal species directly in their natural environment, the Friends of the Biodôme decided to participate in the project by also collecting cans. 

 

First, with the support and approval of the institutions under Space for Life, the cans will be collected in-house with specially marked recycling boxes in employee lounges. 

Then, we will invite our members to bring their aluminum cans to temporary collection sites that we will set up during program activities. 

 

For more information 

FAQ

 

Psst! Cans for Corridors is an initiative that is part of a larger scale project. To concretely support each ecosystem represented at the Biodôme, the Friends of the Biodôme have decided to implement four different projects.

 

The Tropical Rainforest: Cans for Corridors

The Gulf of Saint Lawrence: Under development

The Laurentian Maple Forest: Coming

The Labrador Coast and the Sub-Antarctic Islands: Coming

 

Would you like your school, organization or workplace to get involved? Please contact us! 

Welcome to our new administrators!

Last Sunday, the Friends of the Biodôme held their annual general meeting on-line. Thank you for attending! We would like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome the new members on the Board of Directors 

 Marilou Léger

 Benoît Cyr

 Benoît Ouellet

Program 2020

We are proud to present our brand new program for 2020! Don’t miss the exclusive
activities we have for our members! Enjoy discovering the Biodôme in a new light!
Psst! The activities for 2021 will be announced in a few weeks.

Taking biodiversity to heart!

Buckthorn, a plant introduced to Québec for its ornamental qualities, is an invasive species. It prevents the growth of indigenous plants and limits biodiversity in wooded areas. The project, led Biodôme biologist Claire Vasseur, is to involve schools and residents of a Montréal neighbourhood to remove the buckthorn in a park in their area and reintroduce indigenous plants.

In 2019, 48 volunteers enthusiastically took part in four days of planting. A variety of trees, representative of the woods, were planted in the area most affected by the buckthorn. Overall, some 470 trees and shrubs were planted to boost the park’s biodiversity!

The project was subsidized in part by the Friends of the Biodôme????

Animals of all colors!

The Friends of the Biodôme called upon Hubert Rondeau-L’Écuyer, a talented young artist, to create colouring images. They represent some of our famous Biodôme animals! Click on the names below to download so you can colour them in at home.  Don’t hesitate to share and send us your masterpieces!