Contige Eucalyptus has placed 5th in the 2023 European Tree Competition, it was announced at a ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday. First place was Oak from Poland. An oak tree from Slovakia and an apple tree colony from Ukraine took second and third place respectively.
This year the competition was conducted by voting reality He got 177,486 votes. A Polish tree scored a big hit for the second year in a row, with 45,718 – completely standing out from the other candidates. “The key to success is an effective and aggressive social media campaign Influencers”, states the press release about the competition. The winning Polish oak is 180 years old and over 20 meters tall. Its canopy reaches 30 meters, located in Klebőcs Park, Łódź.
Jakub Kupka
If Poland Oak was isolated at the front, the dispute between second and third place was already close. In second place, with 18,198 votes, was a 700-year-old oak tree from Slovakia known for protecting local habitats for decades. In third place, with 14,219 votes, was a colony of apple trees from Ukraine. It is 220 years old and the main trunk was lost long ago.
In fourth place, with 10,663 votes, was Italian timber, which includes fig trees and Australian rubber. Close behind was Contijin Eucalyptus in Chatao Parish with 10,281 votes.
The Contij Eucalyptus tree is 43 meters tall and has a trunk circumference of 11 meters. This tree was the winner of the 2023 National Competition Tree and thus the Portuguese representative in Europe. The application was made by the Parish Council of Chatto.
“The Contij Eucalyptus tree has always been the ex-library of our parish, either because of its beauty, size or historical relationship with the parish. It is a tree that stands out from others for its monument”, pointed out Antonio José Carvalho, President of the Parish Council of Chatao, in January, in reaction to the result of the tree in the national competition. “This award confirms and gives due value to our third nomination for this competition.”
Sergio Asenha
Eucalyptus was planted in 1878 when the Estrada das Donárias was opened. Its owners are probably the Soares de Contige family or two families that married in the 19th century (Garcia de Mascarenhas and Xavier do Amaral Carvalho) The University of Aveiro is mentioned in a 2016 publication on Facebook about this eucalyptus. “When building a road, expropriating the land, a monument of this type would have contributed to its preservation, which is why it was not cut down,” the publication pointed out, pointing to the road. diverted to coexist with this tree.
As for the remaining seats, Spain’s Holm Oak is sixth (with 10,174 votes); The UK is seventh (9413); Eighth (8867) Peach of France; followed by Oak (8616) from the Netherlands; Hungarian plane tree (7342); pear tree from the Czech Republic (6664); Latvian oak (6005); Estonian Beach (5875); Bulgarian plane tree (5814); pear tree from Belgium (4823); and Croatian oak (4814).
This European competition is made up of winners of various national competitions. Overall, the competition, organized by the Associação de Parceria Ambiental (EPA), aims to highlight the importance of trees in the cultural and natural heritage they leave behind. What is at stake is not just your beauty, size or age, but also your history and relationship with society.
In a statement about the competition, Thierry de l’Esquile from the European Association of Landowners said, “Most of the trees in the competition were planted by humans. Some of them a long time ago. This emphasizes the importance of vision in managing trees, forests and nature.
Portugal has been participating in European competition since 2018. That year, a cork oak whistler from the village of Aguas de Moura (in the municipality of Palmela) won first place in the European competition. In 2019, Ajinheira Secular do Monte do Barbero, located seven kilometers from the village of Alcaria Rua in the municipality of Mertola, took third place. In 2020, the chestnut tree from Wales in Tresminas in the municipality of Vila Buca de Aguirre took sixth place. In 2021, the Rossio de Portalegre flight tree finished fourth. Also, in 2022, Arraiolos won third place with a cork oak.
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