March 18, 2020 – A 242-year old male ginkgo biloba tree in the town of Daruvar, 130 kilometers east of Zagreb, has placed 2nd in the European Tree of the Year competition!
Namely, “Ginkgo in love” finished as the runner-up in the competition this year with 28,060 votes, behind “Guardian of the flooded village”, a pine tree in the Czech Republic, that finished on top with 47,226 votes.
The tree in Daruvar was one of the 16 finalists in the prestigious competition that has run since 2011.
Ginkgo is the oldest tree sort on the planet and has existed for more than 200 million years, while Daruvar’s ginkgo is the largest and oldest in all of Croatia and the second oldest in Europe.
The male ginkgo biloba in Daruvar is named Adam, and is located in front of the southern entrance to the Antun Jankovic castle. It is 242 years old. Adam’s trunk has a circumference of seven meters and is protected by the Nature Protection Act as a monument of parkland architecture.
A female ginkgo grows next to Adam, and is curiously named Eve. Thanks to their love story, the name “Ginkgo in love” came to life. “Ginkgo in love” was nominated as Croatia’s representative in the European Tree of the Year for 2020 after winning the national contest in 2019.
The European Tree of the Year contest began in 2011 by the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation and stems from the Czech national well-established Tree of the Year contest.
“The European Tree of the Year is a contest looking for a tree with a story. The contest highlights the significance of trees in the natural and cultural heritage that deserves our care and protection. The European Tree of the Year is not the most beautiful tree, but a tree with a story, a tree rooted in the lives of the people and the community that surrounds it.
The main aim of the contest and other activities of the Foundation is to strengthen the communities, relationships among people and their awareness towards the environment they live in. Trees are in the very heart of the European cultural landscape although they do not always have an easy life there. They deserve our attention and care,” says the Foundation on its Facebook page.
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