October 24, 2021 - The Croatian Tree of 2021, and which will also represent the country in the European Tree of the Year competition, has been chosen and is the giant sequoia of Slatina, in Slavonia.

The tree of the giant sequoia, also called ''mammoth'', located within the EPIcentre Sequoia Slatina, is about 130 years old and was chosen as the Croatian tree in 2021. This Centennial Giant was protected in 1967 as a monument of park architecture, and today it has been chosen as the Croatian Tree of 2021, reports Turističke Priče.

The story of the giant mammoth in Slatina tells us about this tree as the only protected specimen of this species in the Republic of Croatia and one of the oldest specimens of this species in Europe. Following the horticultural trends of the 19th century, it was planted by the noble Schaumburg-Lippe family, at the same time as the oldest redwoods were planted in England, outside their natural habitat.

These are trees that are naturally distributed in the western part of North America, more precisely in the central part of California (Sierra Nevada) above 1,500 meters above sea level. In Croatia, as in the rest of Europe, redwoods were planted as an ornamental species, but European trees are much smaller than American ones.

Croatian tree in 2021, a candidate for the European tree

In 2021, the Croatian Tree was chosen by as many as 67,231 voters, and the Century Giant in the heart of Slavonia won with 11,042 votes. The second-placed Last Lady of the Podgorica Park had only 99 votes less, and the Brijuni Old Olive and Bricin Hrast from the Lonjsko Polje Nature Park took more than 10,000 votes.

The winner of the national competition Croatian Tree 2021, Public Institution for Management of Protected Areas of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, on behalf of the Republic of Croatia will run for the finals of the European Tree 2022, composed of winners of national competitions of partner countries in the Tree of the Year project.

The organizers of the competition invite all citizens throughout the Republic of Croatia and beyond to get involved in the promotion of biodiversity of the Republic of Croatia, participating in the vote for the European Tree of the Year to be held in early 2022, on World Forest Day (March 21), to declare the winner of the European competition.

So far, the Republic of Croatia has been represented at the European Tree of the Year competition by Platana in Trsteno na trg (2018) with seventh place, Gupčeva lipa (2019) with the eleventh place, Zaljubljeni Ginko from Daruvar (2020) with second place and the oldest Medulinka - Chocolate tree of our memories (2021) with tenth place.

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September 16, 2021 - The promotion of biodiversity and natural resources are the main goals of the competition for the Croatian Tree in 2021. It is up to you, as part of the competition, to choose your favorite and give it your vote, and this year you can choose from as many as 13 candidates from all parts of Croatia.

Each of the nominated trees has its own history and interesting story, and the one with the most votes will represent Croatia at the international competition European Tree in 2022, reports Turističke Priče.

This year's candidates for Croatian Tree of 2021 are:

1. Bricin oak (pedunculate oak - Quercus robur) from the Lonjsko polje Nature Park
2. A friend (oak medunc (oak) - Quercus pubescens) from the island of Krk
3. A century-old giant in the heart of Slavonia (mammoth - Sequoia gigantea) from Slatina
4. The last lady of the Podgorica park (sycamore plane tree - Platanus x acerifolia) from Podgorač
5. Chapel (huge thuja - Thuja plicata) from the Brick Arboretum
6. Ruđer Bošković's cypress (ordinary cypress - Cupressus sempervirens) from Mlini
7. Konavle plane tree in Pridvorje (plane tree - Platanus) from Pridvorje
8. Papuk old oak (sessile oak - Quercus petraea) from Papuk Nature Park
9. Majkovski gigantic oak (oak medunac (oak) - Quercus pubescens) from Majkovo
10. Brijuni old olive (olive - Olea europaea) from the Brijuni National Park
11. Old mother (large linden - Tilia platyphyllos) from the Municipality of Lokve
12. Eternal acacia (acacia - Robinia pseudoacacia) from Pačetin
13. Guardian of the monastery shade - cypress in the garden of the Hvar Franciscan monastery (cypress - Cupressus sempervirens horizontalis) from the island of Hvar.

You can vote until September 30 via the official website of the Public Institution for the Management of Protected Areas of Nature of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, which will nominate the winner of the European competition on behalf of the Republic of Croatia as the national coordinator of the competition.

The winner of the European Tree of the Year competition is symbolically proclaimed in the run-up to World Forest Day on 21 March each year, and the proclamation ceremony is traditionally held in Brussels. Let us remind you that last year's winner and Croatian representative in Europe was the palm tree ''the oldest medulinka''.

The aim of the Tree of the Year competition is to promote biodiversity and natural resources across Europe. The competition seeks to promote individual trees and their significance in the natural and cultural heritage of the people who care for them, which require our care and protection in the future.

The basis of this competition is the story of the tree itself, which shows the importance of trees for the local community and their connection with the inhabitants of the area. The purpose is ultimately to raise public awareness of the need to preserve trees as a valuable natural resource important for human life, and especially because of the increasingly pronounced climate change.

The Public Institution for the Management of Protected Areas of Nature of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County invites all citizens to participate in the process of public voting for the winner of the competition and the promotion of the competition, all together to contribute to the protection and preservation of natural values. which the Republic of Croatia has at its disposal.

Voting instructions

• Voting can be accessed directly via the LINK and the official website of the Public Institution for the Management of Protected Areas of Nature of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
• Only one candidate of your choice, by confirming a click on the website and only once from the same computer, laptop, or mobile device, is allowed to vote.
• Voting runs until  September 30, 2021,  at  12:00 AM.
• From  27 September 2021  until the date of the announcement of the winner of the Croatian Tree 2021 competition on 15 October 2021, the voting results will not be visible.
• Upon completion of the voting and processing of the received data, the winner of the competition will be solemnly announced via the online platform.

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