Hungary’s nominee, a giant sycamore tree in the western town of Tata, has come a close second at the international European Tree of the Year competition, which has seen a total of 200 000 people cast their vote between 1 and 28 February on the Internet. The festive awards ceremony will be held on 22 April in the European Parliament, Brussels.
Collecting almost 60 000 votes, Estonia’s tree was named this year’s winner, ahead of Hungary’s giant sycamore tree in Tata with around six thousand votes. Spain’s black aspen tree, located at Remolinar, came third with close to 14 000 votes.
Fourteen countries took part in this year’s competition, including England, Belgium, Estonia and Spain as new entrants. Hungary’s tree was nominated to represent the country in the international field after it came first in the domestic vote in 2014. The 230-year-old tree was originally planted by the Esterházy family of noblemen and originates from Versailles.
Hungarian trees have already achieved significant successes in the European Tree of the Year competition, with trees nominated by the country coming first in both 2012 and 2013. Last year’s Hungarian nominee, a giant pear tree at Gödöllő, was beaten by a Bulgarian elm.
via hvg.hu
photo: mno.hu