Heart of the Garden, an exceptional Polish beech, is the European Tree of the Year 2024

Heart of the Garden, an exceptional Polish beech, is the European Tree of the Year 2024
The Krka National Park is proud of the participation of the Green Lady in the competition for the European Tree of the Year

On the occasion of the World Day of Forests, on March 21, last night in the amphitheatre of the European Parliament in Brussels, the award ceremony for the European Tree of the Year 2024 was held. The Public Institute of Krka National Park also attended the ceremony, whose mulberry tree, the very recognisable Green Lady from the Skradinski buk waterfall, as the Croatian tree of the year was nominated as one of the candidates.

Despite the fact that the Green Lady did not occupy one of the highest positions in the rankings, its presence as a representative of Croatia in this prestigious competition testifies to the rich cultural and ecological heritage that the Krka National Park preserves and promotes.

With 39,158 votes, the victory was won by a magical beech from Poland, a monumental tree that grows in the centre of an old park and is therefore called the Heart of the Garden. Second place was also a beech, but from France, while third place was taken by a thousand-year-old olive tree from Italy.

“We heartily congratulate the winners of the European Tree of the Year. These are the Poles, popular and frequent guests at the Krka National Park. We believe that they will view our mulberry tree with interest and admiration as they walk along the path around Skradinski buk”, stated the director of the Krka National Park, Nella Slavica, and added: “Once again, we would like to thank everyone who voted or otherwise supported our Green Lady, the Croatian Tree of the Year, a true jewel of our natural and cultural heritage, which made us all proud at this competition.”

The Green Lady, with its extremely rich history, symbolises the coexistence of man and nature, emphasising the importance of preserving old trees, and the connections of the local community with the natural environment. Its presence at this competition made it possible to further highlight the importance of preserving biological diversity and the cultural heritage.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of voters across Europe and beyond join the competition. The Republic of Croatia joined it in 2017, when the candidacy of the Public Institute for the Management of Protected Nature Areas of Dubrovnik-Neretva County was accepted as the national coordinator of the competition on behalf of the Republic of Croatia.

The international Tree of the Year competition emphasises the importance of old trees in the natural and cultural heritage, and, unlike other competitions, tries to discover and promote those trees that have been rooted in the life and work of people, and that bear witness with their stories to the past and coexistence with people.

The international Tree of the Year competition was held for the first time in 2011. It was inspired by the popular Tree of the Year Festival, which has been organised in the Czech Republic for years by the Czech Association for Protection of the Environment.

The competition is organised by the Environmental Partnership Association (EPA) in cooperation with the European Landowners Organisation, and the European Commission.