This year’s Tree of the Year Award won a magnificent 200-year-old Lime from Kopčany

Winner of this year competition Tree of the Year won thanks to record 9526 votes. The tree of the year 2018 became the Large-leaved Lime from Kopčany which has more than 200 year history and it stands beside one of the oldest building from Great-Moravian era in Slovakia. The winner will be represent Slovakia in international competition European Tree of the Year. The second place won the Small-leaved Lime from Riečnica, and the tree appeared in the famous Jakubisko’s film “Sitting on Branch, Enjoying Myself”. The third place belongs to Magnolia from Betliar. This year 20 704 people voted in the poll.

Thanks to Nadácia Slovenskej sporiteľne as a main partner, was poll organised for the 16th time. The Tree of The Year was supported also by ISA Slovakia, DAJAMA publisher, bookstore Artforum and ABIES Gardening. The patronate is held by singer Peter Lipa for the 7th time. Mission of the poll is to point to old, precious or endangered trees as well as to raise people’s interest in the environment.

“We consider as a very important today, to protect and develop our natural heritage. The old and precious trees covered by Tree of the Year Poll deserve our attention, treatment and protection. The poll also contributes to raising the awareness of people in Slovakia about the importance of trees for our lives as well as for ecology and the economy, “said Štefan Máj, Chairman of the Slovak Savings Bank Foundation Board of Directors.

The winning lime, in addition to the title, will receive a reward in the form of a professional dendrological report from ISA Slovakia and a financial contribution for treatment of 300 euros. Trees placed on the 2nd and 3rd place are also awarded a cash prize of € 300 that can be used to treat them. The Ekopolis Foundation did not forget even the schools and rewared 3 of them with planting materials.

The winner story – The Lime guarding secrets

On the edge of the village of Kopčany, in a quiet meadow, there is an old lime and an old church. They protect each other and have resisted the weather for more than two hundred years. The church is from the 9th – 10th century, and is one of the oldest buildings of the Great Moravian period of Slovakia. They create a typical sacred couple for our country – the lime with its roots protects the forgotten stories of the ancestors from the Great Moravian Empire and completes the unspoken atmosphere of this archaeologically and culturally significant place.

For more informations please contact Program Manager: Milan Hronec, tel. 048 / 470 10 95,  0911 452 457, hronec@ekopolis.sk.