February 8, 2022
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The Donin oak growing in the village of Przybodki in the Hagnovsky district of the Naro municipality was put to the referendum for this year’s European Tree. In 2021, the oak tree from Biaowieża Primeval Forest won the Tree of the Year competition in Poland.
Dunin Oak from the Białowiea Forest, which has been growing in the Biaowiea Forest since the 17th century, is one of 16 trees from different parts of Europe that have won national competitions and can be voted on in the European Tree of the Year poll.
Dunin Oak, known as the Guardian of the Białowiea Forest, grows in the village of Przybudki. In 2021, in the Tree of the Year competition organized by Club Gaga, he received 7,380 votes. The competition promotes an attitude of respect for nature and looks for examples of enduring relationships between the culture and history of the local community and the tree, which it particularly values.
The aim of this year’s European Tree of the Year competition is to draw attention to interesting ancient trees as an important natural and cultural heritage that we must cherish and protect. In this year’s European Tree Contest, unlike other competitions, the deciding factor is not beauty, size or age, but history and the relationships between trees and humans.
This year’s European Tree Contest was launched in 2011 as an extension of the Tree of the Year Contest, which has been organized by the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation in the Czech Republic for many years. The winners of the national stages participate in the finals of the European competition.
Dąb Dunin has a chance to replicate the success of the Józef oak tree from Wiśniowa in the Podkarpacie region. She won the European Tree of the Year 2017.
You can vote for a tree from Białowiea Forest until the end of February at the address: https://www.treeoftheyear.org/ Voice
– The vote for Dunin – the ranger of the Białowiea Forest at this point in history is not only symbolic – Says Jacek Bożek, President of Klub Gaja, organizer of the Tree of the Year competition in Poland. – This extraordinary forest, protected for hundreds of years, will be torn apart by politics and irrevocably destroyed before our eyes. Let’s vote and, where possible, talk about the need to save the forest from entanglements and walls. May it not be too late to think about what we are losing.
Among the opponents of the Polish oak for the title of European Tree of 2022, there are trees from all over Europe, favored by local communities, which have won national competitions. They all share great stories and the fact that they are an important part of local life and a pride for the locals. The mammoth tree from Croatia is one of the oldest trees in Europe, the mammoth tree from Belgium was described in a comic book. It is said that the Lyrical Lemon Tree of Bohemia forbade the psalms hidden here in the 17th century. The majestic royal pine grew in Estonia at the time when Swedish King Gustav Adolf II founded the University of Tartu. Lipa Tilia from the Netherlands is the first ever Tree to have an Instagram account, with over 3000 followers watching her journey through the seasons. The weeping Japanese sofas at the Csokonai Theater in Debrecen are a local curiosity in Hungary, and the Old Big Oak of Latvia reminds everyone that this country has the second highest density of big trees in Europe. According to legend, the Italian chestnut with the name “Chestnut of a Hundred Horses” protected Queen Joan of Aragon from a storm. In turn, the Russian oak is associated with the person of the great writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. Weeping Slovak oak “Umbrella of the High Tatras” is a symbol of Stari Smokovic, who is taken care of by the rescuers of the mountain rescue service. The Spanish Freedom Tree saw the Democrats’ Conxo Banquet in 1856 – a revolutionary act that affirmed the ideals of the new Europe: liberty, equality, and fraternity. The UK is represented by the Capeford’s slanting hawthorn, a lonely tree guarding a windswept beach on the Scottish coast. Bulgarian oak is named after the owner of the field in which it grows. The 300-year-old French chestnut has been a secluded tree in the middle of a meadow for years and today is a very popular city tree. Portugal’s Great Cork Oak surprises everyone with the diameter of its crown.
The organizer of the Best Tree in Europe competition is the Environmental Partnership Association (EPA) based in Brussels. In eleven years, the competition has collected more than 1,100 trees – witnesses to our European history, more than 1,100 local communities proud of their natural treasures, as well as more than 3 million tree enthusiasts around the world. Every year, more than 300,000 people from all over Europe participate in the competition.
Dennen Oak – Guardian of the Primordial Forest of Białowiea
The oak was named Dunin in honor of the Belarusian poet and playwright Wincenty Dunin Marcinkiewicz, who gave it the name Janusz Korbel.
The oak stands on the edge of the Biaowiea Primeval Forest, one of the most famous lowland forests not only in Poland but also in Europe. For centuries, it has been respected and admired by locals, but also by the masses of tourists who visit this region of Poland, which is often called the land of European Bison. He is an inspiration to many artists. It is interesting at any time of the year – in the period of full vegetation, but also when it presents its leafless and mysteriously curved branches.
Species: English oak (Quercus robur L.)
Age: 400, height 13m, circumference approx 700cm, traces of nature
District: Przybudki, Narew municipality, Podlasie voivodeship, Poland
On the basis of information from www.klubgaja.pl
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