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

European Tree of the Year winners
Year Photo Location Name Species Ref.
2011 Leliceni, Romania "Lime in Leliceni" Tilia cordata [3]
2012 Felsőmocsolád, Hungary "The Old Lime Tree of Felsőmocsolád"Felsőmocsoládi öreg hárs Tilia sp.
2013 Eger, Hungary "Plane tree in Eger" Platanus × hispanica [4]
2014 Sliven, Bulgaria "The Old Elm" Ulmus minor [5]
2015 Orissaare, Estonia "Oak tree on a football field"Orissaare staadioni tamm Quercus robur [6]
2016 Bátaszék, Hungary "The oldest tree of Bátaszék"Bátaszéki molyhos tölgy Quercus pubescens [7]
2017 Wiśniowa, Poland "Oak Józef"Dąb Józef Quercus robur [8]
2018 Águas de Moura, Portugal "Whistler cork oak tree" Quercus suber [9]
2019 Pécs, Hungary "The Almond Tree of the Snowy Hill in Pécs" Prunus dulcis [10]
2020 Chudobín, Czech Republic "Guardian of the Flooded Village" Chudobínská borovice Pinus sylvestris [11]
2021 Lecina, Spain "The Millennial Carrasca of Lecina" Carrasca milenaria de Lecina Quercus rotundifolia [12]
2022 Przybudki, Poland "Oak Dunin" Dąb Dunin Quercus robur [13]
2023 Łódź, Poland "Oak Fabrykant" Dąb Fabrykant Quercus robur [14]
2024 Niemcza, Poland "Heart of the Garden" Fagus sylvatica [15]
2025 Dalków, Poland "Heart of the Dalkowskie Hills" Fagus sylvatica [16]

Winners by country

Country Number
Poland 5
Hungary 4
Bulgaria 1
Czech Republic 1
Estonia 1
Portugal 1
Romania 1
Spain 1

Winners by genus

Genus Number
Quercus (oak) 7
Tilia (linden/lime) 2
Fagus (beech) 2
Pinus (pine) 1
Platanus (plane) 1
Prunus 1
Ulmus (elm) 1

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Eric Simpson (1 January 2015). "Branching out: Major Oak aims to win 'Eurovision for trees'". BBC News Online. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  2. ^ "European Tree of the Year". www.treeoftheyear.org.
  3. ^ "500 year old lime tree in Leliceni Romania named Europe's tree of the year, awarded at Brussels". 27 May 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Hungarian Plane Tree wins European Tree of the Year award". 28 February 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Thousand-year-old city tree is named European Tree of the Year". Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Oak on Orissaare stadium - European Tree of the Year 2015". Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Oldest tree of Bátaszék is the European tree of the year". Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Oak Józef wins the european contest". Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Two century old Portuguese cork tree named European Tree of Year in online poll". Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  10. ^ "The Almond Tree of the Snowy Hill in Pécs". European Tree of the Year. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  11. ^ "European Tree of the Year". www.treeoftheyear.org. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  12. ^ Watch Tree of the Year 2021 results announcement
  13. ^ European Tree of the Year 2022
  14. ^ European Tree of the Year 2023
  15. ^ "Poland's 'Heart of the Garden' crowned Tree of the Year". BBC News. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  16. ^ "300-year-old Polish beech voted Tree of the Year". BBC. 19 March 2025. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
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