European Tree of the Year
The European Tree of the Year is an annual contest held to find the most 'loveable tree' in Europe.[1]
The contest is held by the Environmental Partnership Association (EPA), an organization supported by the European Land Owners Association and the European Commission.[1]
History[]
The European Tree of the Year competition has been running since 2011 and selects a tree from participating countries (now 15 in number) by public vote. It was inspired by an earlier Czech national tree contest. Most countries hold a national poll to select their entrant for each year. Nominations are made in the year preceding the award. Voting for the European tree of the year commences on 1 February each year and lasts until the end of the month. A live, online display of the votes cast for each tree is displayed until the last week in February when final voting figures are kept secret. The winner is announced at an awards ceremony in late March held in the EU Parliament, Brussels.
Since 2015, there has been a promotional tree tour visiting many candidate trees during the voting month of February. Media PR events, and community, child led, art contests take place for each tree, with the winning art works being displayed at the awards ceremony.
In more recent years, a #TreesInNeed blog[2] has been promoted by the contest organisers to highlight the plight of numerous trees across Europe under threat of destruction.
The UK's most successful tree in the contest is the Brimmon Oak, finishing 2nd in 2017.
Winners[]
- 2011 – "Lime in Leliceni" (Tilia cordata) – Leliceni, Romania
- 2012 – "The Old Lime Tree of Felsőmocsolád" (Tilia sp.) – Hungary
- 2013 – "Plane tree in Eger" (Platanus × acerifolia) – Hungary
- 2014 – "The Old Elm" (Ulmus minor) – Sliven, Bulgaria
- 2015 – "Oak tree on a football field" (Quercus robur) – Orissaare, Estonia
- 2016 – "The oldest tree of Bátaszék" (Quercus pubescens) – Hungary
- 2017 – "Oak Józef" (Quercus robur) – Wiśniowa, Poland
- 2018 – "Whistler cork oak tree" (Quercus suber) – Águas de Moura, Portugal
- 2019 – "The Almond Tree of the Snowy Hill in Pécs" (Prunus dulcis) – Hungary[3]
- 2020 – "Guardian of the Flooded Village" (Pinus sylvestris) – Chudobín, Czech Republic[4]
- 2021 – "The Millennial Carrasca of Lecina" (Quercus ilex)[5] - , Spain
- The Winners – European Tree of the Year – from 2011 to 2021
Winner 2011 "Lime in Leliceni", Romania
Winner 2012 "Old lime tree in Felsőmocsolád", Hungary
Winner 2013 "Plane in Eger", Hungary
Winner 2014 "old elm tree of Sliven", Bulgaria
Winner 2015 "Oak tree on a football field", Estonia
Winner 2016 "The oldest tree of Bátaszék", Hungary
Winner 2017 "Josef Oak", Poland
Winner 2018 "Whistler Cork Oak", Portugal
Winner 2019 "The Almond Tree of the Snowy Hill in Pécs", Hungary
Winner 2020 "Guardian of the Flooded Village", Czech Republic
Winner 2021 "The Millennial Carrasca of Lecina", Spain
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b Eric Simpson (1 January 2015). "Branching out: Major Oak aims to win 'Eurovision for trees'". BBC News Online. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ "European Tree of the Year". www.treeoftheyear.org.
- ^ "The Almond Tree of the Snowy Hill in Pécs". European Tree of the Year. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ "European Tree of the Year". www.treeoftheyear.org. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Watch Tree of the Year 2021 results announcement
External links[]
Media related to European Tree of the Year at Wikimedia Commons- Official website
- Website and Channel der Environmental Partnership Association
- Flora of Europe
- Competitions