The European Tree of the Year is an annual contest held to find the most "loveable" tree in Europe.
The contest is held by the Environmental Partnership Association (EPA), an organization supported by the European Land Owners Association and the European Commission.
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 has been promoted by the contest organisers to highlight the plight of numerous trees across Europe under threat of destruction.
Winners + European Tree of the Year winners Year Photo Location Name Species Ref. 2011 Leliceni, Romania "Lime in Leliceni" (, ) Tilia cordata 2012 Felsőmocsolád, Hungary "The Old Lime Tree of Felsőmocsolád" () Tilia sp. 2013 Eger, Hungary "Plane Tree in Eger" () Platanus × hispanica 2014 Sliven, Bulgaria "The Old Elm" () Ulmus minor 2015 Orissaare, Estonia "Oak Tree on a Football Field" () Quercus robur 2016 Bátaszék, Hungary "The Oldest Tree of Bátaszék" () Quercus pubescens 2017 Wiśniowa, Poland "Oak Józef" () Quercus robur 2018 Águas de Moura, Portugal "Whistler Cork Oak Tree" () Quercus suber 2019 Pécs, Hungary "The Almond Tree of the Snowy Hill in Pécs" () Prunus dulcis 2020 Chudobín, Czech Republic "Guardian of the Flooded Village" () Pinus sylvestris 2021 Lecina, Spain "The Millennial Carrasca of Lecina" () Quercus rotundifolia Watch Tree of the Year 2021 results announcement 2022 Przybudki, Poland "Oak Dunin" () Quercus robur European Tree of the Year 2022 2023 Łódź, Poland "Oak Fabrykant" () Quercus robur European Tree of the Year 2023 2024 Niemcza, Poland "Heart of the Garden" () Fagus sylvatica 2025 Dalków, Poland "Heart of the Dalkowskie Hills" () Fagus sylvatica 2026 Rukai, Lithuania "Oak of Laukiai" () Quercus robur
Winners by country Country Number 5 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Winners by genus Genus Number Quercus (oak) 8 Tilia (linden/lime) 2 Fagus (beech) 2Pinus (pine) 1 Platanus (plane) 1 Prunus (almond) 1 Ulmus (elm) 1
See also European City of the Trees Tree of the Year (United Kingdom) Tree of the Year (Portugal) List of individual trees
References
External links
Website and Channel of the Environmental Partnership Association