Spain's Trees of the Year

Food & Health (botanical)

olma tree winner photo This lovely tree has been sheltering the square in the town of Pareja Spain for almost 500 years. It was so famous that it was mentioned in a 1946 travel book: "They call it lady oak because it is rounded, full-bodied, matriarchal, an elm as old perhaps as the oldest stone in the town."

Then in the 1980's, the "Lady Elm Tree of Pareja", known in spanish as "La Olma de Pareja" developed the fungus that had wiped out almost all of the country's elms. The townspeople treated it with fungicide and pruned it and saved it. For that they received the prize for Tree of the Year: 3,000 euros towards its continuing care.

tree of year.photo
Carballon Valentin

The awards are organised by the NGO Forests Without Borders, an organisation that aims to raise environmental awareness in Spain and protect significant trees and forests from the pressures of land development.

Other winners include the Carballón Valentín in Tineo, Asturias which won for Giant Tree. It is 7.7 meters in perimeter, 13 meters high and 15 meters in diameter. It was seeded around 1160 and has been mentioned in documents dating back to that time.

church yews photo

The oldest of all the trees is the El Tejo of Church, a 1,000 year old yew tree (right side of building).

oldest endangered forest photo

Another prize was given for saving an endangered forest in Cascaxides. This 7 hectare farm had a mixture of various oaks and the tenacity of one of its owners to prevent their disappearance led the jury to award the prize. Guardian

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